ISLAMABAD (APP) - Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) here on Friday urged the government to adopt appropriate food security policies to provide relief to vulnerable section of the society. ICCI President Mahfooz Elahi in a statement said that in the past few years, prices of general commodities have gone up manifold that have badly affected the purchasing power of common man. He said it has become difficult to live within the budget as the price of general items have increased by about 95 percent that make the life of a common man difficult. About 40 percent of population did not even have access to food needed for adequate nutrition, whereas, high food prices have significantly affected the purchasing power of masses. More than half of the population have to spend 50-70 percent of their total income for only buying food items to survive. He said that purchasing power of common people has been decreasing mainly due to 95 percent increase in prices of food items within 4 years. He was of the view that government must take measures to stop further increase in food prices, otherwise, take measures to increase production using modern technology.