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| Inflation and the Plebeian | | | Omkar Dattatray | 3/6/2018 10:20:56 PM |
| | It is the irony of Indian politics that the ruling parties and the opposition as well don't concentrate on the real issues concerning the people. Instead they dig up old graves to rake up emotional, sensitive and non issues only to divert the attention of the masses from the more mundane issues of bear living and development. Both the rulers and the opposition parties try to score political points only and leave the general issues unattended. The issue of price rise concerns all the people but the commoner is affected by the trend of increasing prices more than the well to do sections of our society. During electioneering to national parliament (Lok Sabha) the BJP under the leadership of Narinder Modi had promised reasonable prices of essential goods and has given the slogan of Sab ka Saath Sab ka Vikas. But how will the lives of common people progress when there is all-round increase in prices of goods and services? But after coming to power they have left the common man in lurch to fend for himself. The BJP led NDA government is least bothered about the plight of the average Indian consumer who has been hit hard by the process of rising prices. The historical, bold and revolutionary step of GST has also contributed a lot towards the price rise of the essential goods and services. Since inflation which is the process of persistent and continuous rise in prices of commodities with an increase in money supply in the country is an undesirable economic phenomenon so far as the life of the commoner is concerned. The governmentt should take remedial measures to combat the situation of the spiraling prices. Yes in the era of Lazziz Fare and free enterprise, the prices of goods and services cannot be policed but they can be managed by the political authority by taking necessary steps to put the rising prices under check for the interest of the general public. It is pertinent to know the meaning of inflation. It is the process of continuous rise in prices. In an inflationary situation, either the prices of goods and services are rising or the money supply is rising. However price rise is associated with an increase in supply and circulation of money. According to classical view when stage of full employment is reached, the inflation follows if the money supply increases. However, this view of classical economist's stands rejected in case of developing economies like India where unemployment and inflation go side by side. In fact inflation is the situation where aggregate pressure of demand of goods and services exceeds the aggregate supply of output. Coulborn has rightly said," Too much money chasing too few goods". Whatever its meaning the hard fact is that it affects adversely the purchasing power of the poor and the middle income classes as well as the wage earners. During inflation, the commoners find it very difficult to make both ends meet. They face economic hardships as they fail to purchase their daily requirements of life due to constant rise in prices. This situation has enveloped the average Indian today as the prices of almost all essential goods and services have skyrocketed and have troubled the average consumers who find it hard to manage their daily requirements. The inflation has come to stay in the economy despite the historical and bold step of demonetization. From day one of BJP led NDA rule the prices of essential commodities are soaring high and putting the consumers to hardships. The rising price of essential goods and services is a cause of concern to the common man, economists and the planners. The prices of salt, atta, pulses, tea, edible oils, vegetables, petrol, diesel, LPG, sugar, spices, food grains, soaps and detergents, iron, steel, construction material including cement et al have increased to a substantial extent. The spiraling prices of these essential requirements and other goods and services have badly affected the pockets of the man in street and he is helpless in the face of inflation on which the poor consumer has no control. It is very disturbing that the inflation rate has reached 5.21 percent recently under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narinder Modi. The government must come to the rescue of the general public and arrest the trend of rising prices by taking necessary measures in this behalf. Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister, the reserve bank of India and the NITI AYOG must work in coordination to control the soaring price level which has disturbed the household budget of the average Indian. The powers should take all monetary, fiscal and other measured to control the persistent rise in the prices of the essential commodities. The congress and the other opposition parties should exert their pressure upon the government to contain prices so that the commoners will feel a bit of relief from rising prices. Competitive populism is not needed but then doing away with all subsidies in one go is also not desirable for the interest of the poor people. Government should not do away with all subsidies at the cost of the welfare of the commoners who are the masters in a democracy at least in theory. Government should increase the cash reserve ratio of banks with the reserve bank of India in order to mop up the resources. It will definitely show some good results in shortest possible time. Interest rates for the deposits in the bank should be increased to control the circulation of money and the phenomenon of rising prices. Moreover dearness allowances of all central government, state government, public sector undertakings, insurance and banking employees should be stopped for the time being to check the trend of rising prices. Production and supply of essential commodities need to be increased to meet the increasing demand of goods and services and to control resultant inflation which has broken the back of the common man. Thus without wasting time and the public money on unnecessary debates and discussion on frivolous and trivial issues, the government should find ways and means to curb the phenomenon of rising prices to give relief to the common man who has been promised green pastures by the BJP during elections. The BJP led NDA government should fulfill the commitments given to the electorate in their election manifestos. So the powers must concentrate on the measures economic and political which will arrest the trend of persistent rise in the prices of commodities. The continuous increase of the prices of essential commodities has adversely affected the purchasing power of the poor and the middle income group people. Such inflationary trends have created enormous problems for the common man who finds it very difficult to budget his growing expenditures. The government should take monetary and fiscal measures to curb inflation in the economy otherwise the NDA government's claim of being pro common and pro poor is nothing but a political gimmick to deceive the gullible voters. Let's hope that the NDA government led by BJP will not leave the common man in lurch but will take due care of his interests and concerns. |
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