Rising Prices

 RISING PRICES 

India is a land of problems and the problem of rising prices is one of them . Prices of necessaries of life were never so high as they are today . The rising prices have reduced the people to misery . We have got political freedom but we do not have economic freedom . The common man is the worst hit . Life for him has become a hell . He finds it very difficult to keep the family pot boiling . Since India became free in 1947 , there has been a steep rise in prices . It is sad that nothing has been done so far . Though in general there has been an upward trend in prices since 1960-61 , recent price rise has thrown the country in a state of serious instability . Within two years from 1972 to 1974 prices increased by 48 per cent . From April to June 1976 , increase in prices was of the order of 8 per cent . There was some decline in the price level during the early part of the Internal Emergency but the prices rose higher in the later part . The price situation was the worst during the Congress ( I ) government . Poor and middle class people were the worst hit . Our leaders say that prices are rising all over the world . They do not realise that the people do not tolerate a government which cannot bring down prices . The government has taken quite a few steps but the prices have not come down . The merchants and manufacturers hoard commodities and create conditions of artificial shortage and start charging fancy prices . The commodities of daily use should reach the consumers directly . In this way , some factors leading to the rising prices can be eliminated . To keep the prices down , fair price shops have been opened . But as soon as the government imposes control on a commodity , it becomes scarce . It results in blackmarket . The opening of Super Bazaars and Co - operative Stores also has not brought down the prices . Government has banned the unpurt of certain essential things to encourage production in the country , but things produced in the country are not able to cope with the demand . Every inch of land should be put to use to produce more . It should be the policy to produce more and consume less . There are several causes for the rise in prices . One cause is inflation . Our government has launched many schemes to c heck inflation . These schemes can be completed only with the expenditure of crores of rupees . To get this money government imposes new taxes . But these taxes also fail to raise as much money as is required . The government prints currency notes . These notes in circulation cause inflation . There is more money but fewer things . So the prices of all things rise . The rise in prices is also due to the policy of taxation . Every year government imposes . new taxes on various commodities . The burden of sales tax , excise duty and all other indirect taxes is always borne by the common man . Any increase in the price of diesel oil , petrol , railway freight automatically leads to an increase in the price of goods carried by various modes of transportation . The third main cause of rising prices of the essential commodities is hoarding and black - marketing . After each harvest the big businessmen and traders buy big stocks and hoard them . They create conditions of artificial scarcity . Thus prices shoot up . Besides these , faulty credit policy , insufficient system of distribution are also responsible for this rise in prices . The government expenditure is top heavy . Most of the black money is with the politicians and bureaucrats . To bring down prices remedial measures will have to be taken . One important step is to impose direct taxes , such as income - tax , as all indirect taxes affect prices . State trading in food grains was a good step . It failed because of the corrupt bureaucracy . The entire food procuring and distribution machinery of the government is corrupt and inefficient . Population explosion year after year does not allow us to hold the price line . The meagre resources of the country do not allow us to keep pace with the abnormal growth in population . The shopkeepers are unscrupulous and they charge higher price for goods of inferior quality . The middlemen between the wholesale dealers and consumers also loot the poor consumers . We do not have any national character . Corruption is widespread in all departments of the government . Businessmen are bent on fleecing the common man . They are interested in amassing money and they indulge in the practice of charging exorbitant prices for their goods . The problem of rising prices has become so acute that mere sermons given by government will not do . This problem will have to be tackled on a war footing . National character will have to be built and the anti - social and anti - national elements should be crushed with iron hand . People are already groaning under the pressure of rising prices . Government leaders should not forget that the price line is the life - line . If they fail to hold it , the angry people will throw them out of power . People also have a duty to buy things only when they cannot help.