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World Food Safety Day: PAU experts express concern over rising inflation
The agri varsity V-C says a contentious clause of the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act which allows hoarding is also a factor leading to the price rise
As Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan emphasised on ensuring food security through his Tweet on the World Food Safety Day, economists at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) expressed concern over the rising prices of essential commodities that have gravely impacted the food security and economic prosperity of the common man battling the pandemic.
The experts said economic downturn, job losses and rise in the prices of essential commodities have caused a grave impact on food safety and security.
PAU V-C Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon said a contentious clause of the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act which allows hoarding is also a factor leading to the price rise.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to offer free ration to the poor is an encouraging step, but the government needs to control the prices of essential commodities and make them affordable for the common man.
“The rise in mustard oil prices is a classic example. The drop in import has encouraged hoarding and resulted in the increase in the prices of mustard oil, which touched ₹170 to ₹180 per litre and saw a jump of ₹30 since March. The prices of petrol and diesel have increased 21 times since May 4 and the rise in cooking gas prices has adversely affected household expenses,” said Dr Dhillon, adding that the rising prices of essential commodities is against sustainable development goals.
Dr Kamal Vatta, head of PAU’s department of economics, said the wholesale inflation was 10.5% in April 2021, the highest-ever recorded.
“We have to look at it from a larger perspective. While people have lost their jobs, the prices of essential commodities have increased. So a person who is not earning or suffering a pay cut is also spending more to buy basic ration items. And for cooking them, he/she is ending up paying more as the domestic cooking gas prices have increased.” said Dr Vatta.
Dr Sukhpal Singh, professor of economics at PAU, said the declining income of people will negatively affect the demand and business volume in the economy. The prevalence of monopoly markets known as the worst situations of the market will exploit the producers as well as consumers.
However, Shruti Bhogal, an economist and researcher, said a large proportion of our population is classified under poor and lower middle-income category. “These strata have high propensity to consume, which means they spend a significant proportion of their income on consumption expenditure with a meagre or no savings. A slight increase in prices without a proportionate rise in income exerts an unendurable burden on socio-economic well-being of our masses,” she added.
She said any policy action that is intended towards development would strongly address the issue of inflation.
