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Bring down prices of food items

Hindustan Times | By
Dec 13, 2009 01:54 AM IST

The recent surge in prices of essential goods, especially food items, has made the common man’s life difficult. Being a student in Mumbai, I am already spending a large amount on rent.

The recent surge in prices of essential goods, especially food items, has made the common man’s life difficult. Being a student in Mumbai, I am already spending a large amount on rent. If prices of day-to-day items keep rising like this, it's going to make surviving in the city that much more difficult.

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This constant rise has forced people to change their diet, avoid expensive food items and buy cheaper stuff in bulk and eat the same day after day.

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The government seems to have done very little in terms of regulating prices. At the end of the day, it is not the rich ones or the business class that suffers, but the common man. The government talks most promisingly about the “common man agenda” when it comes to lapping up votes but fails in times of real crisis.

Even restaurants have increased prices of items, making even that once-in-a-while visit a rarity.

Food prices have increased by 20 per cent in the last two months and by 40 per cent compared to last year.

Are these issues being discussed in the Parliament? If yes, why has nothing been done so far towards bringing prices down? Is there no end to this vicious circle? My earnest request to all our leaders is please think about us, we are the aam aadmi that you talk about in your public speeches and TV interviews.

Puja Roy

It has become hard now to handle the daily budget

The steady rise in prices of food items is a cause for concern. With little resources available, it is becoming difficult for the common man to manage his budget. The way things are run here, it is a case of the poor remaining poor and the rich getting richer.

Even the tax laws favour the rich. Those in the salaried class suffers the most because they pay high Income Tax and in return get little. Inflation keeps rising every day and vegetable prices are shooting up. Who is responsible for all this? The government. Have our leaders already forgotten their duty towards the people? What happened to all the promises they made during election time? It is high time they delivered what they had promised.

Also, petrol and diesel prices have increased. All this stems from the Central government’s inability to curtail prices at the grassroots level.

Inflation in the global market is the result of below par agricultural produce owing to droughts, famines and floods in various parts of the world. Another reason for inflation is rising crude oil prices. On the national front our government already seems to have flopped. This is the main issue pending with the government now and instead of bickering with each other, all our leaders should put their heads together and come up with a plan to bring down prices of food items.

C.K. Subramaniam

Is this what the common man will get for voting?

The government is not doing enough to regulate rising prices of essential commodities. It fact, it’s just turning a blind eye to the problem.

The prices seem to be headed for the skies. From food to water, everything is becoming unreachable for the common man.

This is quite a return gift to all those who voted for leaders to be in power.

Every year, we hear the same news of large-scale destruction of crops and inadequate water in lakes due to erratic rain, but it’s impossible that there is no solution to this. The government must have a back-up plan to face situations like these and have some measures in place.

It just seems like the common man is being taken for a ride.

Pretty Mirchandani

Subsidise prices of essential food items

The state government is doing nothing to bring down the prices of vegetables and other essential commodities.

Rice now costs Rs 48 per kg, up from Rs 40, vegetables like beans sell at Rs 120, not to mention sugar which is at Rs 40.

It is high time the government identified the reasons for such a phenomenal rise in prices of so many items of daily use. Poor monsoon cannot be the only factor.

The retail market has never been consumer-friendly; it is ready to hike prices at the slightest opportunity.

It should be possible to subsidise prices of indispensable items like rice, dal, sugar and oil and lessen the burden on the common man’s purse. If the prices do not come down, he will be driven to take loans from banks to keep his kitchen fire burning.

Dr V. Subramanyan

Hoarders at play, no action taken by government

On the one hand, our household budgets are going for a toss with the prices of essential commodities skyrocketing and on the other hand, the government keeps feeding us with inflation figures that seem to conjure up a very rosy picture.

A picture that is not at all in keeping with reality.

Even as the common man pays through his nose for very basic pulses, data released recently has pegged inflation at a mere 17.5 per cent.

I feel this economic data is misleading. In reality, it could be more than 25 per cent and it seems the government has not done much on its part to regulate prices of essential commodities.

Evidently, the ground realities of the market are far removed from these inflation figures that are being supplied by the government.

The alarming rise in prices of essential commodities is causing untold misery to the middle-class due to hoarding by certain elements. The government has totally failed to control the matter. It seems the government is working hand-in-glove with hoarders and cheating the common people.

In all this, the prices of essentials continue to skyrocket — some have doubled or even trebled.

It seems there is no special move on part of the government to tackle the situation. It seems to be having other priorities and taking action to control rising prices is not one of them.

It the price rise situation continues to be ignored, it might soon lead to a disastrous situation that could possibly result in protests and violent outbursts.

Bhagwan Thadani

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