PRICE RISE IN INDIA

Vikram: - Today, BJP party has called a 12 hour bandh in protest to the price rises of all commodities. Really, they just need an issue to call a bandh. Where are the prices rising, tell me?

Farhan: - You are working in a reputed IT MNC and you are drawing 45000 bucks per month. If the price of commodities rises also, it will hardly affect you. If the price of potatoes increases to 33 bucks per Kg from 16 bucks per Kg, then you can still afford to eat potatoes in your daily curries. But, everyone is not a rich man like you. Majority of our Indian population don’t even get food for two times a day. The recent hunger index clearly proves that more than 73% people of our population eat food for once in a day.

Seema: - as a net result, the malnutrition comes in. People lose their immunities against several diseases.

Ranajit: - See, this year is a disaster for India. Drought was there, which is why, it affected the crop production everywhere.

Arindam: - for your kind information, let me tell you that India is a country where crops are produced in three different seasons. If one fails, then other surely succeeds. After that drought, monsoon came late, but it came well and it increased the crop production in later half of this year. I totally disagree to the fact that there is a shortage of crops and for that reason, the prices are rising.

Pallavi: - It is not the first time in Indian history, that there are floods or droughts. But, I have never seen such a steep price rise in commodities before. Pulses are now sold at 115 bucks per Kg, whereas the inflation is just around 1.07%.

Vikram: - Don’t consider the inflation here. There is a serious flaw in calculating the inflation rate. They give 70% weightage to WPI and 30% weightage to CPI and that creates a serious problem in analysis.

Seema: - The biggest question lies in the management of rural sector. Are the farmers able to distribute their crops to the markets very efficiently?

Ranajit: - of course, why not? There are E-Choupal systems of ITC, where farmers can easily see the exact price of a crop through portals and can then sell directly to the market.

Pallavi: - Boss, you are talking about the educated farmers of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, who knows how to surf the internet, but, what about the farmers of other Indian states? They don’t even know what is mouse and keyboard of a PC, internet surfing aur portal dekhna toh doorh ki baath hain. In their cases, they sell their crops to those middlemen, at whatever minimum prices are quoted to them.

Vikram: - That is not bad at all. Farmers are not aware of the actual price. They will sell it at low prices to middlemen. Now, middlemen will make some profits by selling it at a reasonable price to the market.

Arindam: - No, Vikram, these middlemen are very clever. For example, say the standard selling price of potatoes are Rs.15/Kg. Now, a farmer is not aware of that. He will sell potatoes at Rs.12/Kg to the middlemen. Now, these middlemen are very much aware that the exact price is Rs.15/Kg, but they will sell it to the market at Rs. 18/Kg. Then, there are businessmen and politicians who understand the impact of black marketing. They will offer the price of Rs.20/Kg to these middlemen and will buy all food stocks in bulk. As a middleman, I will think about my profits only. So, I will sell all the food commodities to those politicians and businessmen only.

Farhan: - hmm, yeah, you are right. Now, as the stocks are kept with those businessmen and politicians, there will be a scarcity of foods in the market. Indian Government will have no clue about that. They will be in the illusion that there is a shortage of food, which is why, prices are rising. As a normal citizen, you have to survive by eating those vegetables. So, you have no other choice than to buy potatoes at Rs. 33/Kg. Look at the profits of businessmen and politicians. They will be earning a profit of Rs.13/Kg by doing black marketing. This is how the food scams in India takes place and it is the only reason for the recent “PRICE RISE IN INDIA”.