Concerns
of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh over rising inflation
have further increased. This is due to the report presented
by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning
Commission over the matter. According to Ahluwalia, the prices
of essential items would keep on increasing till the month
of November and thereafter also there is hope of prices climbing
down. Ahluwalia has said that the inflation rate could go
up to 8.5 per cent but in this also the fall would come after
the month of November. If sources are to be believed, even
the Prime Minister is not in favour of bringing down the inflation
via government measures. In this situation, the common man
is the biggest loser. As per the report presented by Ahluwalia,
the prices will keep rising and coming down according to the
seasons trends. At the same time the experts are of the view
that tough measures to control inflation would result in harming
the growth rates. It may be noted that in the month of March,
the industrial growth rate had come down to 3 per cent. However,
the finance minister P Chidambaram believes the hike in prices
of commodities is due to rise in price of crude oil in the
international market and prices of food items. As of today
the price of crude oil has touched Rs 129 a barrel. It has
played a major role in jacking up prices of essential items.
Transportation of goods automatically increases with rise
in cost of petroleum products. The biggest consumer of petroleum
products is the government. There is need for the government
to curtail this expenditure. However, the government does
not seem to be serious on this count. One way would be to
adopt the pool system as being done in western countries.
The worst sufferer is the farming community who are not getting
correct price for their produce. Also, the matter of relief
in loans worth Rs 60,000 crore is in limbo as it is not yet
clear as to from where this money would be returned by the
government. The State bank had even announced to stop giving
loans but later has changed its decision.
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