PM Narendra Modi government does everything for saving people of the country and saving the nation from all sorts of tribulations. Why not? Especially when the level of hunger in India has just been categorized “serious” in the Global Hunger Index 2024, and the country ranks 105th out of 127 countries in the world with a score of just 27.3.

Obviously, at this level of hunger in the country, price rise especially of drugs and food, has been making common people unprecedentedly miserable. “Tera Ramji Karenge Bera Paar, Udasi Mann Kahe Ko Kare” (Lord Ram would make your fleet cross, why do become sad) is the religious opiate-song that is of no avail to them. They actually need access to drug and food, with availability and affordability, but both are becoming elusive objectives.

A part of National Sample Survey 79th round has just been released for the period July, 2022 – June, 2023 which noted the level of indebtedness among over 18 per cent of the population, since they are not able to manage their expenditure at the current level of earning. Global Hunger Index 2024 showed 13.7 per cent of the population is undernourished, 35.5 per cent of children under five are stunted, 18.7 per cent of children under five are wasted, and 2.9 per cent children die before their fifth birthday.

This is the background in which the Centre has allowed the recent price rises with a claim, as it has been made in the Centre’s press release, would “meet the twin objective of availability and affordability.” The claim is clearly esoteric, not understandable.

Common people have been demanding from the Modi government to keep price rise on check to make the things available and affordable for them. However, the Centre does just the opposite. Profiteers in the market keep on increasing prices, even of essential commodities, and of drugs that come under the price control mechanism. It should be noted that India does not have price policy in general, though it controls prices of some goods and services.

How does the Modi government handle the price control mechanism where it exists is worth knowing. Government remained deaf to the demand of the people to keep the prices in check, while it listened to those who wanted a hike in price rise. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s press release read, “NPPA has been receiving applications from the manufacturers for upward revision of prices citing various reason like increased cost of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients; increase in the cost of production; change in exchange rate etc.; resulting in unviability in sustainable production and marketing of drugs. Companies have also applied for discontinuation of some of the formulations on account of their unviability.”

The release further stated, “After detailed deliberations in the full Authority meeting held on 8th October, 2024, invoking extraordinary powers under Para 19 of the DPCO, 2013, and in larger public interest, NPPA has approved increase in the ceiling prices of eleven (11) scheduled formulations of eight (8) drugs by 50% of their current ceiling prices.”

It clearly shows that allowing price rise was the sole Modi Mantra to tackle the problem of availability of the drugs and their affordability. It is not the first time that Modi government has acted in this fashion. It had also used such extraordinary powers in 2019 and in 2021 whereby price of 21 and 9 formulations respectively were increased by 50%.

Even in case of essential drugs, the Centre has been allowing price rise. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) enforced only a nominal increase in MRP from April 1, because of a fear of backlash in the Lok Sabha election. However, the Centre has been allowing double digit hike in ceiling price of essential drugs over the past two years. Price rise of essential drugs was allowed chiefly in PM Modi’s second term to over 10 per cent – 10.76 per cent in 2021, against a price rise of only 1.88 per cent in 2020. Price rise of essential drugs was 10.76 per cent in 2022, and 12.12 per cent in 2023.

Now take another example of allowing price rise in food. During this festive season, every household kitchen and every food outlet has felt the pangs of the price rise in edible oils. Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has surprised the whole country by her request to the traders not to increase edible oil prices at least during this festive season. Her tone and tenor of the request how helpless she was in keeping oil prices in check, despite the fact that India had 30 lakh tonne of edible oil in stock which was imported at zero or effectively negative customs rates. To save the nation, and to save the people of this country from a distorted edible oil market, the Centre had just increased import duty on edible oils. It triggered the exorbitant edible oil price hike in the domestic market.

General price rise on all goods and services related to the price rise of petrol and diesel are altogether a different matter. Petroleum prices are calibrated by the Centre through taxes, while in theory it has been linked to market forces. It is all fraud since even the fall in international prices of petroleum is not reciprocated in reduction in consumer prices. Private and Public oil companies have been allowed to resort to profiteering while common people suffer by the yoke of price hike put on their shoulder.

Now the most serious in the backdrop of serious level of hunger in the country is the price rise of food items and food inflation. Food inflation rose 9.24 per cent annually compared to a 5.66 per cent in August. It stood at 5.42% in July, 9.36% in June, 8.69% in May and 8.70% in April, according to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI).Food inflation actually remains sticky at 9.2 per cent over a high base of 6.6 per cent last year. Which makes the common people’s lives miserable is the inflation in cereals at 6.8 per cent, vegetables 36 per cent, eggs 6.3 per cent, pulses 9.8 per cent and fruits 7.7 per cent.

India’s retail general inflation rose to a nine-month high in September due to higher food prices, according to the data released on October 14. Annual retail inflation based on All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 5.49 per cent in September, higher than 3.65 per cent in August. This is the highest retail inflation rate since December 2023, when it was 5.69%.

In the core segment, personal care products have high inflation as high as 9 per cent. It is disturbing that core inflation, goods and services, even excluding the more volatile food and energy prices, make up nearly 50 per cent of the basket. Food prices increased by 7 per cent in June 2024 as against November 2023.

How can then price rise (which the Centre loves to euphemistically call revision) serves the claimed twin objective of “availability and affordability” as it was stated by the Centre’s press release while increasing the price of drugs? Modi government’s policies clearly serve the interest and profitability of the business and industries, but not at all the common people. (IPA Service)