3. THE PROBLEM OF RISING PRICES

Prices are soaring sky-high and the problem of price-rise is becoming very acute day by day in India Almost every month, nay every week, there is general rise in the prices of all commodities. This trend of rise in prices began about thirty five years ago and since then there has been no respite from this menace. There has been big increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, petroleum products, cement, steel and coal. And in turn, these have enormously raised the prices of essential commodities like food grains, cloth, vegetables, fruits, dry fruits, pulses, spices and edible oils.

\India is a developing country and her people are generally poor. They are facing great difficulties because of rising prices. The rise in prices has badly affected the people whose incomes are fixed. The labourers also find it difficult to eat two square meals a day. When India became free in 1947, she was an under-developed country. Unemployment, food scarcity, poverty and growing population were her great problems. With the economic development of the country, the expenditure of the government also increased. This gave rise to the problem of increasing prices.

The population of the country is increasing day after day. We are now one hundred million. With the increase in population, the demand also increases but the production remains the same. The result is that the prices increase. More demand but less production and supply, is the main cause of soaring prices. Export of goods to other countries also creates the scarcity in the country. More taxes, hoarding of goods by traders, weak administration and defective system of the distribution of essential things, are the major causes of price rise in India. Hoarders create artificial shortage of goods and they then sell things at higher prices. The black money made in this way plays an important role. The increasing prices of oil have been a major cause of rising prices and all the nations of the world are being affected by it.

The government is trying to check the price-line. The production is being increased. Action is being taken, against hoarders and black- marketeers. Anti-social elements are being caught and punished. Food production is also increasing. Action plan is in operation against drought conditions. The rise in prices is the main cause of the unrest in the country. It is hoped that the government will take other necessary steps to control the price-rise.