Tag: Rising Inflation

Rising Inflation

Govt Claims Of Economic Growth Do Not Reflect In My Kitchen

By LokMarg

Amandeep Kaur, a Chandigarh-based teacher, says there is a reason why farmers and job-seekers have been protesting every now and then across the country

I do not know of any sarkari data on the country’s economy or RBI projections for the future. I can only speak about the day-to-day realities that I face in running my household. My daily data revolves around the prices of gas cylinder, cooking oil, rice and milk etc., all of which are at an unprecedented high level. Never before in my life have I found managing the kitchen such a challenging task. All the essential commodities have gone out of reach of the common man. And I do not foresee any relief in future either.

Survival for a poor or low-income family is tougher. Unemployment is at an all-time high. Farm income has fallen. It is not a coincidence that the farmers and young job-seekers are continuously protesting against the policies of the government, in various states. They have been experiencing difficulties due to rising prices first hand.

I am not a political person and do not have any solid figures to support my opinion. But I speak what I see and learn every day. And I see the public is suffering. I have not heard anyone in my social circle who has had a salary increment or made better profits of late. When the Covid struck in 2020, people lost lives, jobs and businesses. Many of those who remained employed suffered salary cuts. I have not heard of those salary cuts being revoked. I only hear people talking about ever-rising mehangai.

ALSO READ: ‘25% Of My Salary Goes Into My Bike’s Fuel Tank’

We know most of the goods and groceries are transported to local retail markets. Now, take a look at the rising graph of petrol prices over last two years. This has a direct impact on every day’s use items. It does not require a finance minister’s mumbo jumbo to realise the pinch of rising inflation.

I consider myself fortunate that at least I have a job. I often read full-page advertisements in newspapers about the promises and claims of the government, but I do not find them happening on the ground, or in our lives. A person who earns ₹15-20,000 in a month, and lives with his family in a rented house, can he provide proper nutrition or education to his children today?

If I accept the claim of the government and RBI that economic growth is on the right track and things have become stable, then its effect should be visible in the lives of ordinary citizens. Nothing like this seems to be happening. Claims are different from the ground reality.

I come from a family of farmers. I remember before coming to power in Delhi, the Modi government had talked about doubling the income of the farmers by 2022. We are now in 2023. Show me one farmer whose income has doubled. Does the government have any idea how the prices of fertilizers and other farming requirements have increased?

I can only sum up my experiences and conclude that it is a challenge to run the kitchen. And my firm belief is that the same is true for most other middle-income households across the country.

As told to Nityanand Gayen

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‘25% Of My Salary Is Going Into My Bike’s Fuel Tank’

By LokMarg

Deepankar Jha, a 42-year-old social worker in Bihar, tells LokMarg it will only need one financial setback to push his family, and million others like him, into poverty pit

I am working with an NGO and my job requires me to be on the field for better part of the day. I use a motorcycle for better efficiency and save time. But the rising fuel prices have begun to pinch now. It’s been first week of the month and I have already spent around ₹2,000 on the fuel. I believe by the end of the month I will end up spending 25% of my salary on petrol alone.

I haven’t increased my travel distance at all. It is the continuously rising fuel prices which have burnt a hole in my pocket. The petrol price is going through the roof. Last month, it was around ₹107; today it stands at ₹118; and tomorrow, it seems it will be ₹125. I wonder where it will stop. Has the government decided the raise the bar continuously?

A few days ago, I met some of my friends, who also require to be in the field. They too had similar grouse. Some of them were losing around 40% of the salary on the fuel. The situation becomes tougher for those who must travel for work and their income is in the range of ₹10,000-15, 000. How will a person run his household when a large sum of salary goes down in petrol? This is totally unimaginable.

Diesel is also catching up with petrol. It has already crossed the ₹100 mark. Diesel prices have a direct bearing on the price of grocery items and vegetables. This double whammy has destabilized the entire household budget. The situation has come to a point that I have started cutting down on household items based on their price.

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Media reports said that India has started buying Russian oil at a discounted price. Yet, the fuel price is still rising. Recently, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman released a statement that India will continue buying cheap Russian oil in the nation’s interest. I am wondering why there is no impact of cheap Russian oil for the end consumer.

It seems that the government is filling its own pocket by importing cheap oil and not passing on the benefits to common people. When common people like us are still making hue and cry of fuel price hike, how such imports are serving nation’s interest, I wonder.

There is more. The price of LPG gas cylinder has also been on fire. With the rising inflation, the middle households have inched closer towards poverty. It only needs one blow of misfortune, like hospitalization or some other financial setback, and millions like us will be pushed towards poverty.

Currently, we are living a minimalistic life. It’s not out of choice; we are forced to do so. Job market is uncertain. The first and foremost thing the government can do is: check fuel prices which will bring down the cost of other products too. If the government doesn’t swiftly address this issue, the suffering of common people is further going to increase.

As Told To Md Tausif Alam

Risk Using Public Transport Amid Pandemic

‘Regular Rise In Petrol Price Has Upset Home Budget’

By LokMarg

Nihar Ranjan Panigrahi, 29, an engineer in Ranchi, says commuting on his motorbike is getting costlier by the day but one cannot risk using public transport amid pandemic

The rising petrol prices have meant that every month we have to keep making new adjustments to our monthly home budget. I am a daily bike user and travel nearly 12 kms for work purposes daily. Believe me, rising petrol prices are a big concern. Where earlier say ₹500 was going towards petrol now we have to set aside ₹700 for it.

Not only that, the prices of many commodities like fruits, vegetables etc have also shot up because of the transportation cost due to rise in petrol prices. So, as a whole, our monthly budget has gone up by a total of around ₹2,000.

I live in Ranchi but I have my roots in Odisha. Recently my wife and I had to go to our hometown there for some very urgent work. Trains and buses had been booked to full and in any case we didn’t feel very safe using public transport for the long distance during the pandemic. So my bike it was! We travelled several hundreds of kilometres on our bike and this trip burnt a big hole in my pocket.

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What is the common man supposed to do? One can only feel angry when you feel the pinch. But there is little option for us. There are many people who have lost their jobs during lockdown period and so many others who either faced salary-cut or no raise since last year.

Public transport still doesn’t feel like a safe option, what with so many people not wearing masks in public. One cannot risk contracting the virus. Your personal vehicle is costly but at least it is safe.

Nihar says common man has no option but to move on

My wife cycles every day to her workplace. She doesn’t have to worry about the rising petrol prices with her cycle. And she also feels happy that she isn’t contributing towards pollution. Perhaps the rising petrol prices will push many others to use cycles. However, for many, cycle can’t be a mode of family transport.

The government really needs to work on putting a stop to the rise in petrol prices. While the prices of oil and petrol barrels have been falling worldwide, I wonder why our government is not passing this benefit to the consumer! Plus, the government also needs to be really considerate with the pricing of everything: this is the post-pandemic world! Also, public transport needs to be made more robust.

As told to Yog Maya Singh

Budget 2020

‘Nirmala Ji Doesn’t Inspire Confidence Among Middle Class’

By LokMarg

Bhaskar Rashmi Pandey, a 38-year-old homemaker in Delhi-NCR, says a middle income household can draw little comfort from the mumbo-jumbo of Union Budget 2020

I was a working woman till 2013, after which I decided to quit work and focus on bringing up my two children. Thus, mine is a single-income household. I run a six-member family and I must say that my household budget has shot up big time ever since this government came to power in 2014.

Under previous governments, the price of daily-use items did go up, but they were brought under control immediately. With this government prices have been moving only upward. Take onions, a basic commodity for every kitchen, for example, remained above ₹80 for nearly two months. There was no effort from relevant ministry to bring the prices under control.

The budget (Budget FY 2020) just unveiled by the government doesn’t give me much confidence. The government says it wants people to have more disposable income in their hands with the new proposed budget regime, but it’s like ek kadam aage, do kadam peeche (one step forward, two backward). There might be more income in hand, but what use is it if the prices of products keep increasing? It is like back to square one.

ALSO READ: Union Budget 2020 – A Missed Opportunity

In our household, we have two growing children and their nutrition is paramount. So milk, vegetables and fruits are a must buy. The prices of vegetables and fruits have shot up the most. In our household we had to increase the budget for these by ₹1000- ₹1500 every month, now totalling nearly ₹4,500, and I wonder how other families with insufficient or a fixed income might be managing their household?

We have completely stopped eating out at restaurants. Earlier we would go out twice a month, now we do that once in two months.

Also, people are in a dilemma regarding this government’s every move, precisely because they are so unpredictable. Earlier housewives used to save money for rainy days but demonetization laid many women’s savings to waste.

Even though many people are praising the move that the government has increased the bank deposit insurance from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh in the FY 2020 budget, I wonder why people are forgetting just how many banks are literally on the verge of collapse. For all your investment, you are going to get ₹5 lakhs at the max(imum). Since 2017, there have been so many instances where people have not been able to withdraw their hard-earned money or a limit has been put on withdrawal.

WATCH: Nothing In Budget To Check Inflation

With the condition that the universities are in today what with sudden violence and protests breaking out, we wonder how our savings for our kids’ education (a major portion of any family’s budget) will end up. In addition, even after spending on our children education, will there be enough jobs for them to earn a comfortable life? I wonder why the government isn’t taking cognizance of the unemployment in the country. The youth needs to be productive if we don’t want them engaging in anti-social activities.

Only a good budget, not the mere impression of a good budget, can lead to peaceful times. Frankly, our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Ji doesn’t inspire much confidence. Being a woman she should understand that there are many expenditures in an average family, and that this budget has increased the price of many household items.

My husband who works at a senior position in the lamination industry laments the fact that the government isn’t paying sharp attention to how the economy is functioning and is busy solving surface issues rather than looking at the deeper, bigger issues. I totally second him. Our average monthly expenditure has gone up to about a lakh, and I am sure other middle-class women are finding it increasingly difficult to manage.