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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Price of inflation

The editorial “The price of inflation” (June 23) is a timely warning to the UPA government on what lies ahead for it if it does not take effective steps to check the inflationary trend. The Finance Minister admits that inflation was bound to soar and touch double digit as a result of the rise in the administered price of petroleum products. It is unfortunate that the government endorsed the proposal to increase the price knowing full well that it would hurt the poor more than the rich.

It is strange that the UPA government is queering the pitch on the nuclear deal as if it is a life and death problem confronting the nation, while relegating to the background the real problem of inflation.

K. Lakshmanan,

Srirangam

There is no doubt that the Congress-led UPA is going to taste defeat in the coming general elections, thanks to the rise in the prices of petroleum products which have fuelled the raging inflation. What hurts is that it is going to happen despite the good work done by the UPA government in the last four years.

G.S. Kumar,

Chennai

The surge in the inflation rate to 11.05 per cent is not a sudden development. Inflation has been on the rise over the past several weeks. It was also well known that the spiralling international crude prices would trigger inflation. The government had plenty of time to think of remedies. It initially left the problem solely to the RBI. But the situation needed other steps at the government level such as meeting the demand-supply imbalance. Had such steps been taken in time, the present situation would not have arisen.

T.R. Anandan,

Coimbatore

Some time ago, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram reeled off statistics to prove that growth is better under the UPA regime than it was under the NDA rule.

Statistics are Greek and Latin to the common man who is made to bear the brunt of the unprecedented price rise. The government has failed miserably on the price front and the Finance Minister is squarely to blame for the situation.

V. Sundaresan,

Chennai

Fuel price hike and inflation are not new. They have taken place regularly for the past many years. The blame is always attributed to global conditions and external occurrences.

No one in the government or the ruling alliance has the courage to admit his or her mistake, the lack of vision and the inability to arrest such occurrences.

Group Capt. N. Neelakantan (retd.),

Bangalore

Successive governments and their handling of economic issues are responsible for the soaring inflation. When we opened the door to foreign investors, there was a flood of investment and our economy surged ahead. The trend should have had a proportional impact on our traditional sectors such as agriculture and village-based industries but it did not.

As a result, when the world suffers from food and oil crisis spurting inflation, India is not in a position to counter it. If the nuclear deal assumes an exaggerated importance over the pressing concerns of the marginal Indian, the UPA government will surely have to pay the price in the next election.

B.T. Suresh,

Bangalore

Crossing the double digit, inflation has put the UPA government in a soup. Although it is not because of its policies alone, it has to take a large share of the blame. The global price rise of fuel, recession and downturn in the U.S. economy and other countries have adversely affected the Indian economy too. Inflation has started biting the aam aadmi. The UPA’s prospects in the coming Lok Sabha election are hanging in the balance.

E. Sivasankaran,

Coimbatore

This refers to the report that key vegetables prices have shot up three times over. It is only natural for the prices of essential commodities to increase with the increase in fuel prices. The prices of potato, tomato and onion have been skyrocketing in the past few months, going out of the common man’s reach. It is time our policymakers and economist leaders evolved strategies to ensure that the people’s sufferings are alleviated. At the same time, investor confidence in the markets should not be eroded.

S. Sundaresh,

Bangalore

The contention that it is a shame that despite having a renowned economist as Prime Minister, inflation has grown at an alarming rate (Letters, June 23) is true. All steps suggested by the writer to tackle inflation are sensible. But the UPA government has no will to implement even some of them. I fail to understand the Prime Minister’s obsession with the nuclear deal when the aam aadmi expects him to do something to tame inflation. The monster of fertilizer shortage is raising its head in various States at a time when the people are already worried about food security. The situation is reflective of the government’s casual attitude towards agriculture and food production in the past which has culminated into a crisis today.

SM. Krishnan,

Karaikudi

Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram are not politicians. The former was a bureaucrat while the latter is a professional and an aristocrat. They cannot sense the pulse of the people. It is not the nuclear deal but inflation and price rise that are of concern to the people and the nation.

V.P. Ramesan,

Tripunithura

With the general election not far away, political parties are exploiting the issue of rising inflation to come to power. I do not think the opposition parties could have done anything different had they been in power. Leaders should rise above political considerations to devise concrete steps to arrest the galloping inflationary situation for the sake of the poorest of the poor.

Battan George,

New Delhi

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