In the midst of spiraling inflation, the ongoing holy month of Ramazan has brought a tough test for crores of poor and white-clad families who are worried about getting free flour under the government scheme. The uncontrollable crowds on the occasions has led to alarming incidents of stampedes at some places, with reports of more than a dozen deaths and injuries across the country. This is very unfortunate and needs to be taken notice of.

Before the free flour quota ends, the caretaker government of the Punjab province with the largest population has approved the extension of the project of free flour with an additional budget of 35 billion rupees on the instructions of Federal Government on Friday but till now no methodology has been developed to avoid future stampedes.

The analysts are not in favor of the extension of this scheme in its current form, which is leading to death and injury to deserving people due to overcrowding and mismanagement at distribution points.

It is lamentable that incidents of stampede, chaos and snatching of flour bags are being reported from various cities of Punjab on a daily basis, more than half a dozen people have lost their lives and many elderly men and women have been injured in these incidents.

Officials engaged in the distribution of free flour to people are blaming the ‘faulty’ app developed on the database of the Punjab Information Technology Board for the inordinate delay in the distribution of the commodity but current form of distribution of the flour bags is not satisfactory.

Adding to the confusion are the incidents of snatching of flour bags, which damaged many bags and wasted flour, despite the increased number of security personnel at these locations, making it difficult to control the desperate people queuing up for hours.

Sources say that the provincial officials unsuccessfully tried to convince the Prime Minister in the March 7 meeting that deserving people should be paid in cash through the Benazir Income Support Program database in the wake of the highest inflation rate exceeding 40 percent so that the mismanagement and stampedes at the distribution sites can be avoided. Subsidy in electricity bills should be provided to reduce the impact of price hike on the consumers but that is not being done.

Analysts fear that the situation at the free flour points will worsen as the caretaker government, under pressure from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, approved the extension of the free flour distribution scheme at an additional cost of Rs 35 billion but till now no amendment has been made in the way of distribution.

Meanwhile, a newspaper report said that an estimated 15.8 million families have already been provided free flour under the Benazir Income Support Programme, and the Cabinet approved the purchase of additional 3 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from Pasco.

They are not unsatisfied with the current administrative situation in the implementation of free atta scheme, as according to them, uncontrollable crowds and disorderly conduct at the delivery centers is a common occurrence which has led to the deaths and injuries of deserving people.

 In view of these possibilities, it has also been suggested to give cash instead of flour to the deserving people. Some circles also say that the budget of free flour should be kept for sale in the open market at the mandatory price instead of specific centers so that the situation of looting does not arise and discipline can be improved.

It is commendable that an attempt has been made to provide free flour to the deserving people, but the ground realities have gone further than that. In this context, it will not be out of place to say that there is no dearth of philanthropists in the country who should systematically come forward in this good work and be the support of the good cause.

Bread is the first need of a human being and hunger is the cruelest reality in the world. In Ramadan, forced by inflation, people are having to compromise on their self-respect. Be it charity programs or distribution of free rations, large numbers of them gather at distribution centres. Where many lives are lost in the tragic incidents of stampede and stampede.

In one such painful recent incident, as many as eleven people including women and children were killed and dozens were injured due to a stampede during the distribution of ration and zakat in site area Karachi.

During the distribution of free flour, there have been many incidents of loss of life due to stampede in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well. The main reason for this is mismanagement. It is said that hundreds of women came to the premises of the private company to get zakat and ration and the staff closed the doors due to fear of crowd. As the Iftar approached, people hurried and climbed on top of each other and started running that led to a stampede. Such a system of distribution of zakat and ration should be devised under which provision is made to deliver these things to the doorsteps of the deserving and their self-respect is not harmed.

In some Muslim countries, the customs duty applicable on daily food items during Ramadan has been reduced by 80%, while in our country, hearing the price of daily items makes one’s mouth cringe. Just like in Ramadan, the reward of good deeds increases 70 times, traders have tripled their profits by increasing prices a hundred times.

One should remember the time of one of the early rulers of Islam, when at the beginning of Ramadan, the workers took huge sums of money and spread to the corners of the country, but no needy person was found.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 04 2023

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