RAWALPINDI: Residents are unhappy with the government over a steep increase in the price of chicken and eggs within one week, saying the administration had seemingly given a free hand to the poultry industry instead of regulating the prices. The price of live chicken (1kg) increased from Rs333 to Rs410 compared to last week whereas the meat is being sold at Rs597 per kg compared to Rs483/kg. People said due to high prices, chicken, as well as other types of meat, had become unaffordable. Chicken is available at Rs490 per kg in the market while the official price is Rs410 per kg. A dozen eggs cost Rs350 compared to the official rate of Rs330 per dozen. Not just the chicken, the prices of mutton and beef are not regulated as well. Mutton is being sold at Rs2300 per kg against the official price of Rs1600 per kg and beef is being sold at Rs1400-1500 per kg against the official price of Rs800 per kg. “Chicken meat is available for Rs500 per kg and live chicken is available at Rs490 per kg,” said Nazakat Ali, a visitor at Raja Bazaar. Mohammad Khan, a government employee, said his salary was the same but the inflation was very high, making it difficult for him to make ends meet. “It is difficult to pay the utility bills, children’s fees, and afford the daily kitchen budget on less salary,” he said. According to the poultry association, the spike is due to the demand and supply in light of the ‘wedding season’. “The price of chicken increased, as there was a gap in the demand and supply. In the last two months, poultry production slowed down, which affected the market,” said Hamza Sarosh, an executive member of the Pakistan Poultry Association. He said that the poultry demand increased due to the wedding season and there was less production, which drove the prices up. To question, he said there was no problem regarding the supply of chicken feed, but due to a decrease in the production of chicken, the prices had increased. He said that the government should devise new policies to facilitate the farmers to produce more chicken, which would bring down the prices. However, he expected that the prices would not decrease in the coming days.