Redefining luxury

Ad-hoc policymaking and frequent U-turns may have made the PTI an easy target for mockery in the political sphere, but it‘s approach is doing much more damage to the economy than to its political credentials. Uncertainty, the bane of growth, reigns supreme. The government’s insensitivity to those suffering under their policies completes this dismal picture. Now it emerges that the government plans to include even electric fans in the list of ‘luxury items’ to be taxed in the next budget.

In a country that faces searing summers, with heatstroke claiming many lives each season, the government’s decision is a torture sentence for many. The lowly electric fan – the majority of which are produced locally – is the only thing that provides the sweltering masses any relief between frequent power outages. How can such a common and widely used item be considered a luxury? How can the government be so out of touch with the rest of the country?

Qazi Jamshed Alam Siddiqui

Lahore