We can literally feel that there is something wrong with our country as soon as we step on to the street. Kabul is a city of three million people and usually the streets are crowded with private vehicles and noisy buses. But nowadays we find there is a clear drop in the number of vehicles on the streets. It’s quite obvious that people have no money in hand and therefore are choosing to spend time at home or are thinking of saving their last few Afghanis (Afghan currency).
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The only place we find large crowds are the banks where people are waiting in long queues for withdrawals. But strangely we can’t withdraw our own money. Withdrawal limit is fixed at $200 per week and therefore residents are quite worried as prices are shooting up daily and that kind of money is totally insufficient for maintaining a family. Bank employees are also under tremendous pressure and it is visible in their rude behaviour. Earlier, banks here used to have old and torn notes but now we find banks have fresh currency notes. These new currency notes make us suspect that our banks are dipping into their reserves to sustain their business.
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There is widespread joblessness all around and I can see it right in my family. In my family, I am the only earning member right now. My brother who was employed as an engineer with the government of Afghanistan went to his office a few days ago but the management came to the gate of the office and announced that the unit will remain closed till further notice. He was not receiving salary for some time and now he does not have to attend to office work either. He has been without a salary for the last four months.
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My wife had a job with the government and was working on a U.N.-funded project. But soon after the Taliban’s arrival, she was asked not to come to work anymore. She was told that a final decision would be conveyed to her sometime later. All women who had a professional career are either sitting at home, or have left the country or planning to leave.
State of panic
Under these circumstances, the general stress level of people is very high. Everyone is in a state of panic about how they are going to survive. I have been training people on stress management for the past five years as part of my work to help victims of conflict and I can maintain calm but people at home or outside are all highly stressed. No government institution is functioning and the government is not earning any money and there are no salaries as a result for government employees. I am among a few fortunate persons who still have a job and a salary.
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The crisis can be felt at the general store near my house where we shop for our daily needs. The shop-owner the other day asked me to purchase goods for at least two to three months in view of daily increase in prices. He is a friendly person and was trying to help. He said the prices will rise further and it may become impossible for consumers to buy anything at those rates and that is why we should start storing daily use items at home.
Agriculture markets are doing well for the moment but the farmers are not earning enough as the entire supply chain is running out of cash. They are bringing a lot of vegetables from nearby provinces to the markets in Kabul but are returning with very low profit margin.
In the midst of the financial crisis, we are witnessing a sudden increase in car theft and robbery. A gunman can suddenly appear before a person driving a nice car and ask him to hand over the car. In such a situation, the car owner has no other option but to abide. I myself remain very careful and always go out with two or three persons if I have to venture out for any meeting after sunset and take the busiest road for commuting.
No financial resources
The Taliban are not in a position to control the situation as they simply don’t have any idea about how to run the system. A lot of people who were running the administration have left. There are concerns about the database of our passports. I was told that the people who handled the IT system in our passport offices have left the country and there is no one in the Taliban set up who can run the system for processing any application for getting a new passport or renewal of passports or any other issues. The government has no money and the Taliban is not in a position to run a government that has no financial resources.
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The travel scenario has become equally absurd. Earlier a two-way Kabul-Islamabad flight ticket on Kam Air used to cost $300 but now a one-way ticket on that route costs $1,300. My wife had a job earlier and everything was alright for us, but now she stays at home and worries about my safety as I have to step out for work. Our family of 10 — parents, siblings, my wife and kids — depends on me.
(Jamal works with an international relief organisation. He spoke to Kallol Bhattacherjee on phone from Kabul).
Published - September 30, 2021 04:47 pm IST
