So what did the New Delhi government do to verify all of this? Little precious.
It seems that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas’ (Everyone’s Support, Everyone’s Development, Everyone’s Effort), we had no not realize that the poor would also bear the burden of muscle building (Think of highways, ports, airports, data centers, etc.)
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on a multitude of everyday food items can be cynically viewed as a backdoor method of imposing a “Sabka Saath” label on vulnerable sections. Even wrapped parathas are confirmed to carry 18% GST, inviting political criticism and social media outrage.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has indeed spoken of the need for fiscal measures to control inflation. It is also true that since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has been helping poor farmers with direct income transfers and food grain supplies for the poor. But now is the time to take a more business-as-usual approach to inflation management, rather than emergency measures. The past is gone.
Let’s look at some basics. The economist’s idea of inflation is just a number. The average person experiences it as lifestyle or livelihood stress.
