In August 2007, the CJ was quoted to have asked federal government to control the rising trend in prices of consumer goods with special emphasis on the evaluation of cost of medicines manufactured in Pakistan by the foreign and local pharmaceutical companies to remove the disparity in rates of the two. The buck was probably passed on by the federal government to provincial governments. These directives seem to have been consigned to the dustbins of lower government functionaries. The prices of everything continue to soar unabated due to the connivance of businessman and the concerned government departments. That was all right when the country was being governed by a fake faade that represented a dictator. But the newly elected government came into power in April 2008, with tall claims of giving good governance to the people. The people also felt a change would come and the sufferings of masses would be lessened. But no serious and concrete effort seems to have been made by the people's government for the betterment of masses. The result is that prices of essential and consumer goods have been increased by unimaginable proportions by the collusion of the government functionaries with the industrialists and traders. As things stand, the prices of medicines are unaffordable even for the upper-middle class (if any exists) in this country. Low quality, substandard medicines are in abundance in the markets that don't cure any diseases but only enrich the chemists and manufacturing companies. The CJ needs to assert his authority on this issue. -RAJA SHAFAATULLAH, Islamabad, via e-mail, April 1.