Although Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is to stage a protest against inflation, the prices of kitchen items continue to rise in Punjab, with the prices of vegetables seeing a 200 to 300 percent increase before Eidul Adha, Pakistan Today has learnt. The prices of the vegetables have risen significantly in the past few weeks while the city and provincial governments are not taking any action. The price of tomatoes witnessed a 300 percent increase only in a couple of weeks and it was sold for Rs 90 to Rs 100 per kilogramme (kg) on Wednesday in the markets while in the first week of October, the price was around Rs 30 to Rs 35 per kg. Similarly, the price of onions has risen from Rs 25 to Rs 30 per kg to Rs 55 to Rs 60 per kg. The prices of garlic and ginger are Rs 95 per kg and Rs 90 per kg respectively.
The consumption of these items increases by around 200 percent during Eidul Adha. The shopkeepers said the suppliers had raised the prices while profiteers had been given a free hand to swindle the people. They said onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic were daily consumption items and their demand increased during Eidul Adha and this gave profiteers the opportunity to raise prices according to their own whims.
It was not the federal government’s duty to control prices, rather the provincial and city governments were responsible for controlling the prices of vegetables and other items, said a customer Mehmood Elahi at Township Model Bazaar. He said it was interesting that PML-N was holding a rally against price-hikes and load shedding but the Punjab government had ignored the inflation in vegetable prices.
Another customer, Zulfiqar Kamboh, said every year profiteers earned loads by increasing the prices of onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic before Eidul Adha and the phenomenon was seen this year too while the government never paid heed to it. “The prices of vegetables could be controlled easily if governmental departments keep a close eye on profiteers but no one bothers,” he said. The Punjab government had fixed prices of certain items in the upper bracket during Ramadan. Immediately after Ramadan, the prices lowered significantly. For instance, the price of chicken was fixed at Rs 200 to Rs 214 per kg but later, it was lowered to Rs 170 per kg. A shopkeeper said the rise in vegetable prices was not the retailers’ fault but the suppliers were extracting significant sums of money out of people by raising prices.
“I just get supply from the farms and sell vegetables with 10 to 20 percent margins. If the prices are increased by the producers then I cannot sell products at lower rates,” said Qurban Ali, vegetable seller at Township Model Bazaar.
Customers did not buy large quantities of vegetables during inflation, which decreased their sales and ultimately their profits and the government should take stern action to control price-hikes manufactured by suppliers, he added.
Vegetable prices increase, will someone explain why?
