For the middle class families, rising food prices have proved to be killing and the steps by government are a big joke, say Vikas Kumar and Niharika Patra
Sadhana Singh gets perplexed, mystified, exasperated and even infuriated when she watches news on TV or reads the front pages of her newspaper these days. She is sick and tired of Baluchistan, the fight between Anil and Mukesh Ambani, the antics of participants in Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and the statues that UP Chief Minister Mayawati is erecting. She is terribly disappointed with the media; she never had any hopes from august members of Parliament anyway. “Rising costs of groceries have completely damaged our monthly budget. It is really difficult to maintain the same standard. Our monthly saving is now nil,” says this agitated bank employee, even as she struggles to identify one ‘cheap’ vegetable in the market.
There are literally millions of consumers, homemakers and families across India who share the rising desperation of Sadhna Singh. For them, all the stuff that comes out in newspapers about the rate of inflation falling below zero is a bad joke inflicted upon them in poor taste. School teacher Rajarshi couldn’t care less about the subtle differences between the wholesale and the consumer price index; it is ‘price’ that is killing her, day in and day out. But as former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan says, we should focus on the consumer price index rather than the wholesale one while talking about consumer inflation. And that index is galloping ahead at double digit rates.
Most of them still think that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has the experience and the wisdom to stem the rot; but they can’t help wondering why Mr. Singh is not paying more attention to such ‘bread and butter’ issues. Reality for them is the relentless rise in prices of goods and services that account for the bulk of a middle-class family budget. And the price hikes in many cases are incredibly high. Fond of cauliflower and capsicum? Be prepared to shell out Rs.80 per kg. Think you can increase the ‘nutrition’ quotient in the diet of your child by adding more Arhar Dal? You need to be ready to shell out close to Rs.100 per kg. Have a sweet tooth? Well, sugar is touching Rs.30 per kg.
Those are not just the normal day to day food items that are wreaking havoc on middle-class family budgets. Thanks to the largesse doled out by the Sixth Pay Commission, the amount of money they have to pay as school fees for their children has virtually doubled – often with retrospective effect. And unlike their luckier ‘government employee’ counterparts, an overwhelming majority of those working in the private sector have not seen a pay hike for more than a year. Says Rajarshi, “I have two sons and their school fees have now doubled. I don’t know how will I pay all this.” Rajarshi and her husband really don’t know how to tackle this situation. So, middle-class Indians like Sadhna and Rajarshi who used to save about Rs.5,000 per month have now seen their savings dwindle to literally nothing.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
Sadhana Singh gets perplexed, mystified, exasperated and even infuriated when she watches news on TV or reads the front pages of her newspaper these days. She is sick and tired of Baluchistan, the fight between Anil and Mukesh Ambani, the antics of participants in Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and the statues that UP Chief Minister Mayawati is erecting. She is terribly disappointed with the media; she never had any hopes from august members of Parliament anyway. “Rising costs of groceries have completely damaged our monthly budget. It is really difficult to maintain the same standard. Our monthly saving is now nil,” says this agitated bank employee, even as she struggles to identify one ‘cheap’ vegetable in the market.
There are literally millions of consumers, homemakers and families across India who share the rising desperation of Sadhna Singh. For them, all the stuff that comes out in newspapers about the rate of inflation falling below zero is a bad joke inflicted upon them in poor taste. School teacher Rajarshi couldn’t care less about the subtle differences between the wholesale and the consumer price index; it is ‘price’ that is killing her, day in and day out. But as former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan says, we should focus on the consumer price index rather than the wholesale one while talking about consumer inflation. And that index is galloping ahead at double digit rates.
Most of them still think that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has the experience and the wisdom to stem the rot; but they can’t help wondering why Mr. Singh is not paying more attention to such ‘bread and butter’ issues. Reality for them is the relentless rise in prices of goods and services that account for the bulk of a middle-class family budget. And the price hikes in many cases are incredibly high. Fond of cauliflower and capsicum? Be prepared to shell out Rs.80 per kg. Think you can increase the ‘nutrition’ quotient in the diet of your child by adding more Arhar Dal? You need to be ready to shell out close to Rs.100 per kg. Have a sweet tooth? Well, sugar is touching Rs.30 per kg.
Those are not just the normal day to day food items that are wreaking havoc on middle-class family budgets. Thanks to the largesse doled out by the Sixth Pay Commission, the amount of money they have to pay as school fees for their children has virtually doubled – often with retrospective effect. And unlike their luckier ‘government employee’ counterparts, an overwhelming majority of those working in the private sector have not seen a pay hike for more than a year. Says Rajarshi, “I have two sons and their school fees have now doubled. I don’t know how will I pay all this.” Rajarshi and her husband really don’t know how to tackle this situation. So, middle-class Indians like Sadhna and Rajarshi who used to save about Rs.5,000 per month have now seen their savings dwindle to literally nothing.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
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