Why does the opposition show indifference on the issues related to the general public?

Whether it is the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the platform of public representatives or the government releases or the statements of MPs and Ministers of the ruling party, again and again the shining figures of achievements show the country becoming economically strong, becoming a superpower of the world and developing. Talking about creation of new dimensions. Certainly the country has improved during the nectar of independence and is continuously getting better. It can be expressed happiness that when the big economic powers of the world are dying, then India is not only handling itself in all adverse situations but is setting new standards of development and economic progress. We have overtaken the country to which we were slaves and have achieved the fifth position in the world and very soon according to the optimistic nation-builders we are going to be the number three economic power in the world. But there are many oddities and inconsistencies among these golden scenes which inspire us to introspect. One of the biggest issues is inflation. Unemployment, environmental imbalance, deteriorating law and order and daily-new laws and systems are suffocating the common life.

RBI has also increased the repo rates several times in order to stop the pace of inflation, which continues to remain unbridled. No matter how much the figures of the economy are showing the better condition, but based on the ground factors which affect the standard of living of the common people, the estimates also come out. In order to recover from some unexpected shocks during the last three years, now the economy has started picking up again, but parallel to this, even today, the prices of essential commodities against the income and purchasing power remain a challenge in front of the common people. Although the prices of vegetables are currently under control, but the increase in the prices of milk, spices and fuel has again created difficulties. This situation is also alarming because RBI may again increase the repo rates in the context of this problem. It is a different question that to what extent the monetary policies adopted to control inflation will be successful? The opposition, unable to understand the changing India, is not able to understand on which issues to go among the public, it often shows indifference on the issues related to the general public.

It is being said all the time by those who talk about ‘New India-Powerful India’ that the economic growth rate of the country is under control. In the eyes of the central government, the pace of development is fast. State governments are also making similar claims in their respective states. It is said that production has increased, property has increased. There has been progress in all fields of agriculture, industry, trade, transport, education, medicine, communication, defence, military equipment, knowledge and science. The prestige and credibility of the nation has increased in the world. They say, roads are being built from border to border, cities are being built, stores are full of food, markets are full of goods. There is also a lot of buyers. Who to say of billionaires, the number of trillionaires is increasing and earning name in the world. India’s doctors, engineers, technicians, scientists, professors, businessmen are proving their talent in the world. They are giving all these information absolutely correctly. In fact, he says that in order to quickly complete the ‘New India-Developed India’ in the 21st century, the current economic policies should be allowed to run unabated and if there are any obstacles in its path, they should be removed soon. But parallel to all this progress, what are the reasons for the rapidly spreading disparity and poverty, they do not speak on this, sometimes they do not speak correctly. Then who will talk about poverty and inflation?

Poverty, poverty, scarcity, inflation prevailing in the population of India show that the process of economic development is not on track. In India, the story of wealth on one hand and poverty on the other is centuries old, even in the 21st century its traces remain intact. Both these conditions at the same time are proved by our history. That is why the dream of the freedom movement was to build a new India. But the development policies of the previous governments have been contrary to this direction, so definitely the political, economic and social forces dominating the power have been betraying the democracy provided by the Constitution of independent India. But now a bright dawn is being felt, India itself is creating new records of development, moving towards becoming the superpower of the world. The policies and development plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are being resounded in the world, but if we look at the general public against the current glitter of development, then the condition will be called disappointing.

The picture of poverty in terms of population is still a big cause of concern. In the increasing inflation, the survival of these people is becoming more and more complicated. Obviously, the increase in the prices of food and other essential commodities in the market has complicated the life of not only the middle class but also the lower class people. These reasons have also created a wrinkle on the forehead of the government. The reason is that the people suffering from inflation for a long time tried to understand its causes and maintained restraint. But due to many other reasons including the complete ban during the pandemic, even though the clouds of despondency on the economic front have started to dissipate and it can be said that the economy is once again on the way to normalcy. But to keep inflation rising continuously and to control this rising inflation, the Reserve Bank of India ie RBI has set a target of keeping the rate of inflation in the range of two to six percent.

The figures for two consecutive months before January seemed to be giving some relief to the retail inflation rate. But now its crossing the limit of 6 per cent indicates that even the increase in the policy rates by the Reserve Bank to control inflation could not last long. Obviously, banks keep their interest rates slightly higher than this. In this way, the burden of interest is increasing on those who take loans from banks for home, vehicle, business etc. But on the other hand, those people also get benefits, who have invested or deposited money in banks for their hard times. Therefore, the increase in repo rates alone will prove to be an effective way to contain inflation, cannot be claimed.

We have to pay attention to the causes of rising inflation. There are many reasons for rising inflation in India. In the year when the monsoon is not good or uncontrollable, in that year the agricultural produce is bad and the prices of food and drink go up sharply. If the crops are good, the prices come down. This is believed to be the main reason behind the fall in inflation in the third quarter of the last financial year. At present, the expected speed has not returned in the industrial sector. The trend of exports is down. The trade deficit with many countries continues to widen. New employment opportunities are not being created, due to which the purchasing power of the people is not increasing. Oil prices are still out of control. In such a situation, the rate of inflation is now more than the tolerance of the people. Then, by trying to increase the repo rates, industrial and business activities are adversely affected, which directly affects the country’s growth rate. That is, it will be difficult to balance like this.

-Lalit Garg

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist)