gÉÉŌ A.]ÉŌ. xÉÉxÉÉ

03.08.2010
of each and every essential commodity in a rapidly growing economy like ours. It
is not at all possible. In a way, on the one side, we have to give proper prices, the
remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce and on the other side, the
consumer should have an affordable price to pay for the commodities. In-between
these two, the Government has to act pro-actively. There is no other way.
The population of India is growing exponentially. Compared to the rate of
growth of Indian population, the rate of production has not gone up. In 1971-72,
the population of the country was of the order of 551 million and in 2006-07, it
went up to 1,122 million. So, the population has doubled during this period. It
means that we have to provide double of what we used to provide in 1971-72
because the population has increased two-fold. At the same time, because of the
development, the land mass has reduced and the production has reduced. So,
because of the demand-supply situation, there is bound to be rise in the prices of
essential commodities.
It would not be out of context if I point out here a report of the UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs which reported in 2009, and I quote:
“13.6 million more people were pushed into the ranks of poor in
India because of joblessness and high rate of inflation.”
The UN had warned in 2009.
There are two ways of measuring inflation in India – one is WPI-based
inflation and the other is CPI-based inflation. The WPI does not reflect the price
the common man pays to purchase the commodities from the street corner shop.
The WPI reflects the price of raw material, the price of intermediary products and
the price of finished goods. It does not even take into account service sector,
which is 55 per cent of our economy. It does not take into account the cost of
transportation, health and education. It does not take into account house rent also.
That is why, the WPI, which the Government Departments and the planners are
often using, is not reflecting the real price the consumer pays.
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