For the people in Kashmir, the holy month of Ramadan as a time of reflection, prayer, and community, comes with an unanticipated problem. Prices for fruits and vegetables reached a global peak among vendors.
As families are physically and mentally preparing for the month-long fast, there are additional economic burdens that make this time of prayer more challenging, so it becomes more of a time of suffering.
The steep increase in prices seems to be more of a curse rather than an annoyance, which is dangerous for many families. Everyday items such as apples, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions have seen their prices increase up to three times over.
While trying to understand this problem, some factors should be taken into account. These include unseasonable rains and snow that severely disrupt the supply chain and tend to destroy crops. Lack of initiative by the proper authorities to regain control of the market is greatly concerning.
Consumers become pawns in the hands of hostile and unscrupulous middlemen due to the absence of well envisioned price control and timely issuance of subsidies.
As far as the expenses increase, it is Ramadan month where the expenses increase beyond imagination, as the lifestyle.
It is a quite ironical manner of economic hardship because this is not only physical well-being; it traverses to the mental sphere placing stress upon what is otherwise a spiritually inspiring time.
There remains a serious need for the government and concerned parties to act fast and address the crisis. Community initiatives in cooperative buying or local markets may lessen the impact on consumers. Price transparency and regular following of the market situation must come first for the sake of fairness and accountability. Besides the check and balance, there is a need to sensitize people about the importance of helping others in need.
Religious scholars and clerics can play an important role in sensitizing people of this moral obligation.
