Costly festivals

The unnatural increases in prices of everything from edibles to travel tickets must be curbed.

Every year, on the eve of Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, the triumvirate of Nepal’s biggest festivals, market prices shoot up, shadowing the festive mood. This year too, the prices of essential goods such as rice, edible oil, legumes and lentils are already soaring. To make matters worse, both long-range buses and airlines hike ticket prices, making the journey home a financial burden for many. Goods prices are really not consumer-friendly. Even the supposedly low-cost goods from China are now out of reach of many families. Let us not even get started on the price of gold, which only the super-rich can now afford.