Instead of addressing the real issues behind unprecedented price hike, government has once again decided to launch a misdirected effort.
Pumping a fairly huge capital to provide essential items at subsidized rates through a network of state owned utility stores is the worst available option. The move is going to lead to yet another corruption scandal in the coming years.
The incumbent government of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) is faced with issues of miss-governance since it took office after 2018 elections. The reason for the government not coming up to expectations of people is resorting to hit and trial tactics, which has always been relied upon as a mainstay by the current government.
The prime minister has undesirable blind trust in the people around him. Imran Khan should rather be more meticulous and alert on the performance of his so called economic team, especially after the big change he had made earlier in his economic team when he replaced people like Asad Umer.
Another big problem with this government is that they don’t properly prepare for anything whatsoever. The glaring example is their walk run and walk effort towards tax reforms. They didn’t study market dynamics before starting aggressive campaign hence it did not pay desired results.
Whenever you have to stop bleeding, it needs to be blocked at the source point rather than putting stops at the points where blood is merely visible. The new initiative of so called relief through weak links of communication like the existing utility stores, is going to bounce back. It would render nothing except draining the hard earned capital.
It’s a meagrely arranged system out of reach of masses and can’t help the actually needed relief. Besides, it is going to create yet another pocket for the food mafias that control the food supply chains in the corrupt market.
The apprehension is beyond understanding of whosoever is Architct of the likely failed system, they are planning to come up with. We actually need a broad based market system to take the relief to actual masses.
Another bad tactics adopted by the government machinery is making raids on the small and medium grocery and food stores. There is a need to understand that necessary items of daily use are actually controlled by tycoon distributors and companies at their godowns and they actually dictate the prices to the end consumer.
Unless the on-ground market dynamics are studied and ways explored through involvement of the small and big scale traders and suppliers that are actually connected to the end consumer, all the temporary measures are bound to fail.
Also Read: Mindless administrative reforms; dominance of administrative service bane to progress
