Regrettably, with the beginning of holy Ramadan, the prices of daily edible items have massively surged in the upper and lower Sindh districts especially in the districts bordering with Punjab province. If the rising prices are not controlled, then the conditions are set to become more difficult in the said areas of the province.
However, neutral analysts put the responsibility firmly at the provincial rulers and district administration, which are not performing their duties diligently, uprightly and honestly. Food security is also going to become a serious problem in the rice growing belt of the province because the region faces an acute shortage of water and like the past rulers , the incumbent rulers have not invested in agriculture-related infrastructure to support farmers.
Sindh is a province that is blighted by crumbling urban and rural infrastructure. There are regular water and power cuts, while the cost of everyday foods has surged. The unemployment rate is so high that almost two out of every three Sindhi youngsters are out of work. The province has never seen so many suicides among the youth and it is heart-rending to see the young people being pushed into despair and disillusionment by joblessness and social disruption.
Claims by the provincial rulers and development sector organisations that Sindh province’s economic fundamentals are excellent are seem hollow when one hears in the headlines of the press and the electronic media that this many jobless young people committed suicide in this and in that part of the province. Indeed, the pace of job generation is slowing as the economy loses momentum.
With elections not more than six or seven months away, the rulers are requested to take pragmatic steps to contain the alarmingly rising inflation, improve and upgrade the crumbling infrastructure, and also generate more jobs and fill the vacant seats in state departments and provincial authorities (reported to be in thousands) and also direct the multinational companies to accommodate the local talent which is being discriminated against in employment in those companies.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad