Why Bakra Mandi Is Not Much Affordable This Year?

This Eid may not be much friendly towards our lower and middle-class families this time and here is the reason why is it so.

If you are thinking that this Bakra Eid, you'll just rush into your nearest Bakra Mandi and will get your favorite animal for this Eid within an hour or so (with good rates of course), then you may be wrong because this time, things are pretty different. You may not be able to even find a good animal for yourself which will also be in your budget. Why is it so? I've gathered up some reasons and here is how I'd like to present them:

•  Inflation:

Due to the increase in prices throughout the country, and if talking about this year's prices and comparing them to the last year, there is a drastic increase in it. Now animals are available twice the price they were used to be available last year. A Bakra that was available for Rs. 20,000- 25,000 last year is at least Rs. 50,000 + this year. The same goes for the bigger animals as well, the ones that used to cost around Rs. 75,000 - 1,00,000 are not at least  Rs. 2,50,000- 3,00,000 or maybe even more than that. 

• Transport for the seller and the buyer:

Mandi those were used to be near your location is not available this time and a legit Mandi that is located far away in a popular city like Islamabad costs a lot in terms of transport. This time, due to the sudden increase in petrol prices, the drivers demand relatively high rates for their services than the last time. Both from rural areas to the city where the Mandi is located and from Mandi to the destination of the buyer. The fare is worth calculating prior to buying your animal as it is considerably high.

• Feed for the animals and other expenditures:

As mentioned earlier, due to inflation, nothing is quite much budget-friendly now and the costs for maintaining animals are relatively higher than last year. Also, other necessities like electricity, food, water, etc. also cut their cost from the overall profit which comes from the animals. And with the lesser sale this year, it is hard for a seller to make it to the end of this Eid session and they prefer returning to their home instead.

• COVID-19:

This quarantine phase due to COVID-19 is the core cause of the lack of Mandis in all the cities throughout Pakistan. Many restrictions have been implemented by the government regarding the populated areas and a Bakra Mandi would be the center of attention this time. Many people there do not follow the SOPs set by the government and many of the buyers don't even visit these crowded places because of the risk of getting infected with the virus. And for not following the proper instructions and also due to the restrictions, Bakra Mandis are lesser in number this time.

There is not much of a 'solution' available and this time, people may have to settle for what it is available, they may have to go for a costly animal this time due to various reasons including the quarantine period, where people avoid any type of social interaction. However, there are a few online websites like bakraonline.pk or bakramandi.com.pk which is an online Bakra Mandi. It may be not much a successful effort to substitute a physical Bakra Mandi but the effort is appreciable.

Did you find something special from Bakra Mandi this year? Do let me know and thank you for sparing your time reading this article.

And an advance Eid Mubarak from Mr. Bakroo!