Editorial     

Published: October 31, 2024
Updated: October 31, 2024

Diwali masks price pain of common man

As in the past, Diwali this year has been celebrated across India with fervour and joy, with buildings and homes lit up like new brides, crackers dominating the sound scape, flares lighting up the night skies across the country and an exchange of gifts, sweets and dry fruits symbolising a season of giving and gratitude. And it’s been a sweet record of sorts – Indians who had spent Rs 1 lakh crore on Diwali celebrations three years ago have this time spent — hold your breath — a humongous Rs 4.25 lakh crore!

But amid all this seasonal joy, common citizens are an unhappy lot as spiralling price inflation has come as a dampener to their festive mood. The light from the traditional earthen ‘diya’ has done little to dispel the gloomy look in their eyes, and even if they are smiling outwardly, their hearts are silently bleeding.

The ‘un-Diwali’ fact of life at present is that the cost of living is escalating day by day. Even as they ushered in the new Vikram Samvat 2081, Indian households find themselves struggling to cope with a sharp surge in the prices of essential kitchen staples – ranging from simple tomatoes and potatoes to more exotic condiments – in the last one month or so. The overall trajectory of the price rise across the wider food basket is symptomatic of the unsettling build-up of the underlying inflationary pressures in the economy. For instance, the price of tur dal, a key protein source in the diets of vegetarian households, continues to keep rising. It has climbed by 10 per cent month-onmonth to Rs 21 a kilogram by now.

This spiralling inflation is forcing daily wagers and low-income groups to give up on small gastronomic pleasures. From vegetables and rice to cooking gas and detergents – almost all everyday items are becoming more expensive month-on-month, forcing many to put a reluctant brake on their spending.

Food and fuel are the two main sources of inflation in India. Food inflation is largely driven by rising global energy and food costs that have been triggered by geopolitical issues, including the prolonged Ukraine Russia war, the Israel-Palestine and the Israel-Iran conflicts, and the fear of other countries being sucked into these conflicts. At the same time, erratic monsoon patterns have played their part in lowering crop yields.

Little wonder then that many Indians are struggling to make ends meet and are cutting back even on everyday necessities.

To add insult to injury, the government continues to indulge in political oneupmanship – and the opposition is not blameless in this regard either — and seems to have put the issue of rising inflationary pressures on the back-burner. In fact, even during election campaigning, government spokesmen have not referred to the highly disturbing issue of price rise — not to mention any reference to measures to bring down the prices of essentials.

And as if the current high prices of essentials are not enough, leading FMCG companies have announced on the very first day of the new Vikram Samvat that prices of everyday use like food items, oils, toothpaste, soap and detergents will be raised very soon – their rationale being that there has been a noticeable rise in the cost of production.

In such a sorry scenario, only God can save low-income Indians from the spectre of near-starvation as the Centre seems to be totally indifferent on the issue of the inflationary price spiral.