By Omkar Dattatray
India is facing the burning issue of inflation for the last few years and it has landed us in a hot sopt. Inflation is the economic phenomenon of continuous, persistent and constant increase in the general price level. The inflation is adversely affecting the lives of the people because the consumers have to part with more hard-earned money for purchasing basic necessity of life. In fact the purchasing power and purchasing capacity of the consumers has gone down and need based domestic procurements gone stressed.
The prices of all most all the goods are increasing continuously and it has affected adversely the budgets of the common householders and they want an escape from the situation. It has broken the back of the common consumers and they are facing difficulties in their sustenance. Ironically, the inflation puts a severe burden upon the pockets of the consumers as the prices of flour, rice, pulses, spices, sugar, detergents and soaps etc are rising continuously.
Therefore there is no option but to purchase the goods even at the high prices. The prices of the patrol, diesel, cooking gas both domestic as well as the commercial are rising continuously and the brunt of the rising prices has to be borne by the consumers as it badly impacts the purchasing capacity of the people. It is a common knowledge that the continuous increase in the prices of the fuels like diesel and petrol leads to the increase in the prices of all most all goods and services because the transportation charges increase and this increases the prices of the goods in the market .The subsidized and non subsidized cooking gas prices are rising persistently and it is of serious concern to the housewives as they have to part with more money to purchase the cooking gas. The government of NDA headed by the BJP has done away with the subsidy and the prices of the subsidized gas has increased to about rupees one thousand and it pinches the consumers .The freebies and subsidies are not needed but to do away with the subsidy in one go is also not advisable and feasible .The prices of various brands of the edible oils are also increasing constantly and its prices doubled and it has affected the pockets of the consumers. The price tag on the edible oils has reached to rupees eleven hundred for five liters and it pains the common consumers. Besides the prices of the edible oils the prices of the perishable items like vegetables, eggs, fruit etc are increasing continuously and burdening the consumers. Since the consumers cannot dispense with the use of vegetables, fruit and eggs and therefore there is no way out for the people from being in tight corner. The increase in the prices of the vegetables, fruit, milk, curd, cheese affects all the consumers as they have but to purchase these goods at whatever prices in the market. During the rule of UPA rule the prices of daily use goods were kept under control by the rulers in the interest of the consumers. The government of the day should exercise control on the rising prices of the essentials of life and come to the rescue of the people. But unfortunately this is not happening and the opposition alleges that the BJP government is friendly to the big corporate houses and as such does not control the rising prices of the goods. Thus the price rise does not seem to be the concern of the ruling party as it does not bother about the price rise and its implications.
Everything in a democracy is dependent upon and influenced by the vote bank policy and hence the rulers should for the sake of gaining votes pay its attention towards combating the rising prices so that here is minimum of anti incumbency. Since the state assembly elections to the five states is round the corner in the early months of 2022 and so the government should intervene and combat the rising prices for the benefit of the consumers and for its own benefit otherwise the ruling parties prospects will be adversely affected in the elections. Inflation is the characteristic feature of the developing economies and so India is no exception to the rising prices as there is continuous rise in the prices of the goods which people need .The people are facing the sorry state of affairs of the rising prices and there is urgent need for the controlling of the prices of the goods and services . But the government of the day pays scant attention towards controlling the rising prices and this will be at its own peril as the ruling dispensation will have to cut a sorry figure in the state assembly elections to the five state assemblies. Therefore, the powers should intervene and take all the necessary steps to control the prices of the products of daily use for the relief of the consumers. If the government is really interested in the welfare of the commoner it should show its presence and take required steps to control and combat the prices of the goods and services and it should reflect on the ground. The rising prices is a burning issue which the people of India are facing as there seems to be free for all as the hoarders and black marketers are indulging in unfair trade practices to the disadvantage of the people. This black marketing and hoarding should be fought on the war footing so that it does not lead to the creation of the artificial scarcity of the essential goods and services. So the government should take recourse to the rationing of the essential goods for the interest of the consumers.
(The author is retired education officer and columnist)
