They say statistics conceal more than they reveal. When it comes to official data, questions simply multiply. India’s inflation rate fell to a five-year low in September on lower food and fuel prices. The Wholesale Price Index rose 2.38% in September from a year earlier. The food inflation declined by 1.4% as a result of lower prices for tea, fruits and vegetables, as well as maize, chicken and fish. But why then is there a hue and cry over rising prices of pulses rising to about 200 rupees a kilo gram? Finance minister says the 500-crore Price Stabilization Fund is being invoked to reduce cost of imported pulses even as fresh imports are underway. Removing supply chain bottlenecks apart government has to usher in a transparent time bound annual import policy rather than indulge in knee-jerk reactions. Remember price rise is a giant killer!
140wordz 