People were hoping the PPP and PML-N coalition will provide them with some relief in the budget. Instead of reducing the miseries of common man, the government has increased the prices of electricity and gas beyond his buying power. The PPP and PML-N leaders are insensitive to people's plight and are busy playing politics for personal gains. The top leaders of the two parties are very rich and have no personal experience, which could help them relate to the cause of the common man. As the natural gas is locally produced, there is no justification for increasing the price of CNG by 30 percent and price of Sui gas by 120 percent. As long as the feudal families are holding sway on political power, the status of the common man will not change. People's miseries will keep on compounding, poverty crimes will keep on increasing. It is imperative to change the status quo to make Pakistan a social welfare state as visualized by its founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. -ENGR. S.T. HUSSAIN, Lahore Cantt., via e-mail, July 2.