Cup of woes of common man reaches its brim

New Delhi, Jun 18: The cup of woes of the common man across the country seems to have reached its brim, what with rising prices of fruits, vegetables and other essential commodities leaving a deep hole in his pocket, forcing him to reframe his already backbending budget.

The recent hike in the prices of petrol and diesel have sent prices of almost every essential item skyrocketting, reports received here from different states indicated.

The price hike has dealt the heaviest blow to the people in Kerala. However, no significant change has so far been noticed in the price line in West Bengal and Manipur.

In some of the states, retailers and vendors have overtaken the role of wholesalers in fixing the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables in the retail markets, making it hard for the people to make a balance between their income and expenditure.

In Punjab, a kiryana store owner Sanjay Kumar in Mohali said the prices of items like soaps, washing powder, edible oils and toiletries have risen by five per cent due to the fuel price hike.

''It is not only the hike in the prices of petrol or diesel alone, as the prices of essential items, including flour, have gone up in the last six months due to various reasons, including the value added tax,'' he said.

Besides, the number of people using personal vehicles and not relying on the public transport remains the same in cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh.

''We have to continue driving our own vehicles as there is no adequate public transport in Chandigarh,'' said a lady school teacher, who pointed out that the public transport was not feasible for her commuting.

Renowned educationist of the College of Education in Patiala, Mr Kuldeep Singh, lamented that the corporate sector had begun making profits from the essential commodities like petrol and diesel which were once regulated by the state in the interest of the masses.

In Madhya Pradesh, vegetables and fruits have become dearer with tomato selling at Rs 30 per kilo as compared to only Rs 10 a fortnight ago in Bhopal. Most vegetables are being sold at rates 50 to 100 per cent higher than the pre-petrol price hike level.

With local crop already over, tomato is being imported from Karnataka resulting in sharp rise in its price due to increased transportation cost, said vegetable vendor Murali. Value Added Tax also contributed to the hike, he added.

While foodgrains have become dearer by Re 1 per kg, pulses maintained their upward trend with moong (polished) touching Rs 59 per kg in the Cooperative Federation's 'Aapoorti Store'.

In the national capital, according to Mr Rajender Kumar Sharma, president of the Potato and Onion Merchants Association at Azadpur Mandi, the real rise in prices will be seen five years from now when fresh fruits and vegetables would all be sold at monopolistic prices through malls in packs of different quantities and qualities as the big bulls would indulge in contract farming and lift the whole produce directly from the fields.

As of now, in Delhi, the average price of fruits and vegetables has gone up by 40 to 70 per cent in the retail markets compared to much lower prices prevailing in the wholesale markets like Azadpur Mandi.

Some of the green vegetables like brinjals, lady fingers, green peas and tomatoes have almost vanished from the platter of the common man as these are bought scarcely because of the high price-tag.

Whenever asked about high prices, the vendor or retailer has a pet reply, ''Saab petrol mehanga ho gaya hai, transport ka kharcha barh gaya hai, keemat to barhegi hi(As the petrol price has risen and transportation has become costlier, the prices are bound to rise).'' However, as for the price rise in cereals and pulses, trade sources say it is due to future trading in these items. Several members of future trading exchange indulge in hoarding to release the stocks when there is shortage and sell at the price of their choice at an opportune time.

''This is all due to speculative trading,'' they say.

In West Bengal, the effect of the price hike is yet to percolate down to the essential goods, according to sources in the vegetable markets in Kolkata. The sources at the main fish markets in the state also echoed similar views and said the prices are at the same level as before. Meanwhile, the housewives and the common man were apprehending price hike in the near future. ''The price of essential commodities have already skyrocketted with the continuous fuel price hikes undertaken several times earlier. We are apprehending a rise in the near term also. However, we are yet to see any rise so far,'' said Mamata Naskar, a housewife.

In Manipur, the prices of essential commodities and vegetables have not increased due to the hike in fuel prices. A market survey showed that the prices were almost stable with moong dal being sold at Rs 42 per kg, arhar at Rs 33, mattar dal Rs 20, masoor Rs 28, green peas Rs 18 and urhad at Rs 38 per kg, officials said.

In Kerala, the prices of vegetables, fruits and other essential commodities have risen sharply in the state capital and the people are already feeling the pinch.

A government employee Babu Raj said the price hike has dealt the heaviest blow on Keralites as the state has to transport all the essential commodities, including vegetables and fruits, from neighbouring states.

Prasanth, a businessman who runs a store, said, ''it is the sixth time the prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked since the UPA government came to power at the Centre. It has also affected the business class as the price hike has drained their pockets.'' Meanwhile, Shanta, housewife, who was relieved at the government sparing the LPG and Kerosene prices, said, ''we are finding it hard to manage a month's budget. We used to get vegetables and other commodities at half the price.'' Lekha, another housewife, said vegetables costing Rs 10 per kg were now being sold at Rs 30 per kg. The price list at the vegetable shop also showed that there was an increase of more than Rs 5 to Rs 8 per kg for each vegetable. Even at the grocery shops, the revised price list showed an increase of five to ten per cent on each item.

However, in Kozhikode district of the state, the prices of fruits, vegetables and other food products, including pulses remained steady over the last couple of days despite hike in fuel prices, according to leading traders.

The prices of essential commodities remained static even after fuel price hike because of lackadaisical market sentiments coupled with fear of business loss in the event of passing on the burden to the people, Calicut District Fruit Merchants' Association President Abdul Rasheed told UNI.

As a result, their profit had curtailed drastically as they were forced to pay enhanced transport fare ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 500 per load, he said.

Calicut District Vegetable Merchants' Association president A P Moideen Koya Haji said that till now, truck operators had not demanded any hike after the petro price increase. The prices could flare up if they raised the tariff, he opined.

In Tamil Nadu, prices of essential commodities have predictably increased all over due to rise in transportation charges in the past few days.

Though the price hike on the essential commodities, especially pulses, was due to the fuel price hike, the other major reasons were poor cultivation of pulses in different parts of the country and the illegal growth of the online trade, according to Mr K Mohan, General Secretary of the Federation of the Tamil Nadu Chambers of Commerce.

Mr Kesavan, owner of a grocery shop, said the retail price of urad dal per kg was Rs 31 in April, Rs 32 in May and now it was Rs 33. The black gram price was Rs 52-54 and now Rs 56.

He said there was a meagre hike of Rs one per litre/kg of gingili oil and Rs 3 hike on per litre/kg of groundnut oil following the recent hike in the petrol and diesel prices. The prices of other oils were stable, he added.

With regard to vegetables, there was an all-time increase in their prices after the recent fuel price hike, said Mr K Vijayakumar, a retail vegetable vendor of Nungambakkam.

He said the green chilly was now sold at Rs 14 per kg as against Rs 12 a couple of months back. It was Rs 8 and Rs 5 respectively per kg of lady finger, and Rs 15 and Rs 12 per kg of drum-stick, and Rs 18 and 15 per kg of tomato.

Mrs Jayanthi, a fruit vendor of Koyambedu fruit market, said the prices of all varieties of mango had gone up. Citing an example, she said 100 numbers of Panganapalli variety were now sold at Rs 1200 to 1300 as against Rs 700 in last month.

Mrs Manju, a private firm employee, said she earned Rs 3500 per month which was just enough for her monthly budget till recently.

But now that the prices of essential commodities and vegetables were on the rising trend, her current budget would be ''a shortage budget''. But she added at the same time that she was in a helpless situation.

She said the government should arrange essential commodities at a subsidised rate in the fair price shops for at least those living Below Poverty Line.

UNI