ISLAMABAD: Transporters and daily wagers have expressed severe resentment over the government’s decision to bring a fresh increase in the prices of petroleum products and said that this would not only affect the daily wagers but would also bring a new wave of inflation across the country.
Talking to Pakhtun Digital, Shehzad, a local driver, said that he was very disappointed with the recent decision of the government to bring an Rs 11 increase in the prices of diesel and a Rs 05 increase in the prices of Petrol. He said that they are poor people and work hard for their family in the transport sector, but whenever the prices increase, they quarrel with customers over fixing the fares, and sometimes it results in clashes, as the public does not accept repeated increases in the prices of transport fares.
He added that the federal government have severely annoyed the public and every household faces multiple issues, whether to overcome the food expenses or utility bills and rents of their houses. The entire income is spent on utility bills and rent of the houses, and ultimately results in borrowing loans from others every month.
Another transporter, Nadeem, who drives a bike to feed his family, said that in the last 45 days, the government increased petroleum prices up to 17 rupees while the price of Sugar also increased in this period, which has badly affected their low income.
He said that the Shehbaz government is making tall claims of bringing economic stability in the country, but on the other hand, the government have pushed the poor toward the wall, which results in suicide and crimes in society. He said that if one compares the PTI government with the PML-N, the PTI was far better than the PML-N government in terms of inflation.
It is important to mention that before 2020 government was deciding fuel price adjustments based on a monthly review, but later it was decided to review the prices fortnightly with a gap of every 15 days.
This has changed the overall system and transport charges increased and decreased repeatedly without any government notification. This trend frequently results in clashes between transporters and passengers.
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