Spiralling prices pinch common man’s pocket

Household budgets strained as lack of increase in real incomes allow little cushion to help absorb rising prices of daily essentials

Blame it on the ongoing war on Ukraine or the constant rise in diesel and petrol rates, prices of several essential commodities have been on the spiral, burning deep holes in the pocket of the common man. With livelihoods badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses lost and salaries cut, many families are finding it harder to survive.

Deserving special mention is the price of cooking oil, which has risen exponentially over the past several weeks, crossing the ₹200-mark per litre. While the rates have been on the downward slide for a couple of days, one can give up hope that they would ever be on the wrong side of ₹150 per litre, surmise dealers.

“I bought sunflower oil at ₹95 per litre not very long ago. Then came COVID-19, during which prices went up to ₹150-160 per litre and that never came down post pandemic. Now, the war has only made things worse,” says P. Satyavathi, a resident of Alkapuri.

While the price of rice has remained more or less constant over the past two years, another staple, wheat, has borne the impact of the war. “Prices of oil and wheat have considerably increased over the past one month or so. Suppliers and stockists attribute it to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. In the past few days, oil price has come down by about ₹2-5 per litre, depending on the brand,” shares Ramachander, owner of Sree Balaji Kiranam and General Store in Meerpet municipality.

Wheat price has gone up by ₹5, up to ₹40 per kilogram during the past few weeks, he informed. Kirana merchants predict that the prices of all grocery items are set to rise in a month or two, when diesel price would hit supplies.

The cost of vegetables, too, has seen an upsurge over the past one year. Prices remained high even during winter last year, when there usually is a glut in production resulting in price reduction. Compared with the same season last year, there is a 20 to 35% rise in the prices of veggies.

“No vegetable is available at less than ₹80 per kilogram. A common vegetable such as bhendi (lady’s finger) costs ₹20 per 250 grams. Prices of leafy vegetables, an essential part of daily cooking, have gone up too. If someone had predicted one piece of lemon would cost ₹10-12 in future, I would not have believed them, but here we are,” says Ms. Satyavathi.