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Thursday, September 24, 2009 News added

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Death in a stampede
Dr Ashfaque H Khan Last week the city of Karachi witnessed one of the worst human tragedies in decades. Some 20 women and children were crushed to death in a stampede to collect free food items, particularly flour and sugar. Distribution of free food items by the philanthropists during Ramazan is a normal feature across the country. But what is different this year is the sheer number of poor thronging the area where food items are distributed either freely or sold at subsidised rates. Unfortunately, of late, such throngs have become a permanent feature in different cities and towns across the country. This is indeed a painful development as the nation has not witnessed such scenes in recent past. The president and the prime minister have simply expressed their grief over the loss of lives and offered their condolences to the bereaved families. This is an insult to human lives and dignity. Where are the NGOs, civil society, TV anchor persons, political parties and political leadership? All of them have simply paid lip service to the tragedy. Those who lost their lives are poor; they are not organised; have no voice; cannot sponsor TV talk shows; have no access to the leadership of the NGOs, civil society, and also cannot reach the political leadership. As such, they are forgotten by the people of Pakistan. While the rest of the country has celebrated Eid, there was no Eid celebration in the houses of those crushed by poverty. What a painful transformation has taken place on the economic front in less than two years. Until 2007, Pakistan was regarded as one of the four fastest growing economies in the Asian region along with China, India and Vietnam. Goldman Sachs an international investment bank included Pakistan along with Korea in the Next Eleven (N-11) club after BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which, according to the bank, will become the global economic leaders in the next 45 years. In less than two years, Pakistan is presenting a picture of Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Malawi etc., where people run behind United Nations trucks to get free food items. Many cities of Pakistan are replicating the scene where people run behind the trucks carrying flour or sugar to be sold at subsidised rates. Men or women, old or young, thronging around trucks or distribution centres are being thrashed by the police in a disgraceful manner for a few kilograms of flour and sugar, sold either at subsidised rates or free of charge. What a shameful transformation has taken place in such a short period of time! The country has produced a bumper wheat crop in the range of 23-24 million tons this year but the poor and the destitute are being crushed to death for a few kilograms of flour. There is no shortage of wheat/flour as the country has produced more than its requirements. But at what price the flour is available to the people of Pakistan in general and the poor and destitute in particular is a real issue. The average price of flour in 2006-07 was Rs13.6/kg which is now being sold at Rs28-30/kg an increase of 106-121 per cent in a short period of two years. Is this surge in flour price the outcome of demand-supply gap? The answer is no. The unprecedented increase in the price is the result of reckless and senseless increase in the

support price of wheat by the government over the last two years. The government has increased the support price of wheat from Rs425/40 kg in 2006-07 to Rs625 in 2007-08 and further to Rs950 in 2008-09 the cumulative increase of almost 124 per cent in the last two years. Flour is a staple diet of every Pakistani household rich or poor. The poorer segment of society spends almost 25 per cent of their monthly food expenditure on flour alone. Another 10 per cent is devoted to sugar. These two basic food items account for one-third of the monthly food expenditure of the poor. Such a massive increase in the prices of flour and sugar in a short period of two years has broken the back of the poor. These commodities are now out of the reach of the poor. It is in this background that we see the poor queuing for hours in the scorching heat or crushed in a stampede just to get a few kilograms of flour and sugar either at subsidised rates or free of charge. Who is responsible for the current plight of the poor? It is none other than the government itself. The senseless and reckless increase in the support price of wheat has given birth to the Karachi tragedy. Not taking a right decision at the right time and providing opportunities to sugar mills to exploit the situation resulted into current sugar crises. The use of administrative methods to address sugar crises simply added fuel to the fire. Poor or lack of governance is the root cause of the current state of affairs. Unless the government addresses these issues urgently, there is a danger that the people of Pakistan may lose faith in hard-earned democracy, political parties and leadership. In such an event, we will all be the losers. The writer is dean and professor at NUST Business School, Islamabad. Email: ahkhan@nims.edu.pk