Ramadhan and price hike
The holy month of Ramadhan begins today and people across Kashmir valley have been preparing themselves to welcome this month of forgiveness and seeking blessing from the Almighty.
Though this month teaches us about being passionate, forgiving, caring and tolerant, we tend to forget the real message that is intended behind experiencing mankind with this holy month of devotion.
The month of Ramadhan has begun in Kashmir with people feeling an increased burden on their pockets as the prices of all essential commodities in Kashmir have skyrocketed with the most commonly used items touching an all time high price.
The average households in Kashmir do tend to spend a bit lavishly on food items during this holy month. On an average every household consumes high protein diet which includes meat and chicken besides fruits and dates. The vegetable consumption too witnesses and upsurge during the month.
However, what is being felt that the cost of the products which an average household consumes has been witnessing a steep increase. The cost of chicken is an all time high at Rs 160 a kg and mutton is being sold more than Rs 500 a kilo.
The crisis according to market players is going to worsen in the coming days as they claim that the supply and demand position is witnessing a severe imbalance these days. The prime reason for this severe imbalance in the supply and demand is due to stoppage of trucks on Srinagar-Jammu national highway which has hit the delivery of supplies.
Though the issue of curtailing the supplies was highlighted by various quarters during the past few weeks but it seems that the administration is not willing to pay any heed. The governor lead administration has not taken up this issue on priority as the entire issue concerns a common man who is being held hostage for all the mess that has crept in.
The common man whose income has dwindled over the past few years here has to end up spending whooping amounts even to get his basic needs fulfilled. These concerns of the common man were expressed much earlier but no one in the administration it seems is bothered.
While the people are blaming the Consumers Affairs and Public Distribution Department for its failure to check the prices, traders and shopkeepers say the rise in rates of essentials are directly governed by the demand and supply principle.
While the failure of the government to put a control mechanism in place is raising many eye brows, the issue needs to be tackled on war footing now. It is high time that the government here works out a mechanism to ensure timely and adequate supply to the valley so as to put the miseries of the common man to an end.
KV Network
