Unrelenting price rise

Union Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, visited the Mylapore market in Chennai last week. Her surprise visit was to gauge the mood of the people and to buy some vegetables for home. Media reports say that the minister realized the unusual price rise in the country.

There is no meaning in worrying about inflation when the value of the Rupee is depreciating. Common people find it very hard to make ends meet. For two years, people suffered the onslaught of the Covid pandemic. Many industries were shut down and crores of jobs were lost. The life of the majority of people became difficult when productive sectors got shrunk.

Post-Covid there was widespread hope that things will return to normal. However, the unexpected price rise has killed these hopes. The price of every commodity is very high now.

There is no use in finding out the reason for inflation by checking the numbers of the price indexes. The common man is asking why there was no effort to rein in prices when favorable conditions came after Covid. It is said that every sector has reached the pre-Covid levels. The favorable condition in the manufacturing sector will be naturally reflected in the prices.

However, the price of every item is on the rise. Even after making a record in grain production, the price of grains has not gone down. On the contrary, it has risen by Rs.5 to Rs.10. Vegetables and daily use commodities are also rising uncontrollably. Some have resorted to keeping the prices the same on the packet and filling the packets with less amount. For example, the rate of an Rs.20 biscuit packet will be kept the same but the number of biscuits will be less than before. This is the condition of many packed items in the market.

Even while people are struggling with price rises, the greed of the oil companies has no limits. The price of cooking gas is rising past Rs.1,100. The irony is not lost when the government gave Rs.22,000 crore to cover up the loss of ‘poor’ oil companies incurred in the selling of cooking gas.

Reports say that the efforts to control price rise through a hike in interest rates have also failed. The Reserve Bank is planning to raise the interest rates yet again. This year alone, the RBI hiked the interest rate four times to bring inflation under control.

No state can escape from the clutches of inflation. The plight of a consumer state such as Kerala is more pathetic. The price of vegetables, fish, meat, fruits, and essential items is rising without any control or limit.

The construction sector is also feeling the heat as the price of building materials is also increasing. As there are no government controls, the traders are fixing the prices. Finance Minister is saying that the next budget will address the twin issue of inflation and depreciation in the industrial sector. Hope the measures to rectify the economy do not burden the common people further.