New Delhi: Following reports of price rise amid the festive season, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday took to Twitter claiming that the prices of commodities including some pulses and a few vegetables have declined compared to the previous month. The statement came a day after the RSS flagged rising inequality and unemployment in the country.
“Fall in the prices of food items in the time of festivals, celebration at home, relief in budget,” said the minister on Monday on Twitter. He also attached a graphic showing how prices of many commodities have declined.
The price of palm oil has come down by 11 %, onions by 8 % and potatoes by 7 % on October 2 compared to the same date in the previous month. Similarly, the price of chana dal came down by 4 % and mustard oil by 3 % during the same period, showed the graphic.
On Sunday, the RSS flagged the issues of poverty, unemployment and rising inequality in the country.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said during a webinar organised by RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch that, “The poverty in the country is standing like a demon in front of us. It is important that we slay this demon. That 20 crore people are still below poverty line is a figure that should make us very sad. As many as 23 crore people have less than Rs 375 income per day. There are four crore unemployed people in the country. The labour force survey says we have an unemployment rate of 7.6 per cent.”
Hosabale said another major issue was the rising economic inequality. “One figure says that India is among the top six economies of the world. But is this a good situation? Top 1 per cent of India’s population has one-fifth (20%) of the nation’s income. At the same time, 50% of the country’s population has only 13% of the country’s income,” he said.
Earlier, IANS had reported that prices of essential kitchen commodities including wheat, atta and rice have recorded a considerable rise in the last one year. As far as wheat or atta is concerned, its prices have gone up considerably in the last few months. As per traders in Delhi’s wholesale markets, wheat prices have seen a spike crossing a record Rs 2,560 per quintal due to low supplies and robust demand. The mandi prices were ruling at around Rs 2,150-Rs 2,175 per quintal since a ban on wheat export was imposed on May 14, 2022.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in a statement said that the retail and wholesale prices of wheat and rice reported a decrease and prices of wheat atta remained stable during last week. During the last two years the prices of wheat and rice have gone up more or less corresponding to the MSP increase during the relevant years. During 2021-22 the prices were comparatively on the lower side because approximately 80 LMT of foodgrains were offloaded in the open market through OMSS to contain the prices, said the Ministry.
(IANS)
