Standing in a queue to get some cooked food to feed her family of five, 30-year-old Khushi in Faidan area of Chandigarh is praying for the ongoing lockdown to end at the earliest. She fears if the lockdown is extended, she would run out of ration and her meagre savings as her husband, the only breadwinner of the family, is sitting idle since the restrictions were enforced.
“I am standing here in the queue to get some cooked food as the ration at my home is fast running out and I don’t have much money left to buy essentials if the lockdown continues,” said Khushi, while waiting for her turn at a local gurdwara. The police personnel present on the premises ensured that “social distancing” was maintained during distribution of food.
“The local administration recently distributed some ration in the village, but many people didn’t get it. There are hundreds of families here. More ration is needed for them. My husband worked at a construction site on daily wages, but now he has no work, no money. How will we survive? Prices of wheat flour and pulses have also risen,” she said.
Another resident Reshma, who worked as a domestic help in houses, said her family had been purchasing ration on credit from a local shopkeeper. “While rice is easily available, getting wheat flour is a little tough these days. Also, prices of wheat and pulses have increased. Earlier 10 kgs of wheat was available at ₹250, now the shopkeepers are charging ₹300 for the same. Vegetable prices have also increased in the past few days,” she said.
Bharati Devi, a housewife, said that two-three days ago ration packets were distributed in the village, but many residents couldn’t get them because of the rush. “I am aware that some disease [COVID-19] is spreading, but for people like us it’s a fight for survival,” she said.
‘Less branded products’
In Chandigarh’s Sector-49 market, Rajesh Kumar, a grocery store owner, said while supply of most of the essential commodities is almost normal, availability of branded products has gone down a bit. “Branded wheat is one major product which the dealers/wholesalers are not supplying. Pulses are easily available, but the prices have gone up by 15%-20% as the wholesalers have hiked the prices.”
Amid reports of LPG cylinder shortage, the All India LPG Distributors Federation has denied any crisis in Chandigarh and Punjab.
