People's Democracy

Unemployment & Rising Prices: A Volatile Cocktail

G Mamatha

THE Indian government has spent quite some money advertising the fifth anniversary of REGA (now MGNREGA). On the very same day, 19 youth had died returning from Bareilly. The reason for their death is, they were part of the 1,50,000 who had applied for four hundred and sixteen jobs, offered by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Yes, 4-1-6 jobs! For which 1,50,000 had applied, from only 11 states in which they were advertised. Gosh! What would this number be, had it been advertised throughout the entire country? Doesn’t it portray a situation contrary to that advertised by the UPA government? And remember, this is not a singular incident - the man in Mumbai was beaten by the MNS because he was travelling across the breadth of the country just to earn a living...women, including those who were pregnant, running across the ground, carrying heavy bags on their heads just to earn a badge – licensed porter. These might have occurred quite a time ago, but the dreams of such aspirants are not yet realised. All these incidents point out to a grim reality prevailing in our country, despite the efforts of this government and its cohorts who wish to wash it away – unemployment. Is it such a serious problem, that people are putting even their lives at stake to get a job, irrespective of qualifications, whatever they be?

Recently, an official survey puts unemployment in our country at 9.4 per cent, which, in fact is a mighty conservative estimate. Unemployment does not just mean a lack of job; it means lack of means to live their life. This deprives them of resources even to buy their food – not to eat their fill, but to gulp something to fill their stomachs. Forget about other luxuries, many a day buying food itself is a luxury for them. In this scenario, rising food prices - food inflation - is a double whammy for them. 

The current UPA government, one of the most inept in the recent period, tries to blame the rising food prices on a host of factors...failing crops, unseasonal rains, etc, etc, effecting their supply. The agriculture minister in the UPA government instead of acting and taking prompt measures to normalise the onion prices recently, said that it would take at least three weeks for the prices to stabilise, which indicates for whom this government is working. And stabilise they did, at a level twice of what they were a year ago!

The FAO repeatedly states it is not the vagaries of supply and demand  that are determining the food prices today, but it is the speculative futures trading on food commodities that are essentially responsible for these high food prices. To substantiate their point, they have statistically shown how despite the increase in the supply of food, hunger and starvation are growing. The reason being that the poor are unable to buy even those basic food items, as the prices are deliberately kept out of their reach.

Rising food prices is also a serious concern for India. The sky-rocketing prices of food items are severely affecting the livelihood of aam aadmi. There has been a massive amount of food insecurity amongst ordinary Indians who are finding it difficult to meet their basic nutritional requirement. Many studies point to the fact that the consumption of cereals has fallen down to the levels of the pre-independent India. The current government has not done enough to alleviate this problem.

Due to this inaction of the government, even the food schemes it had started for children have taken a significant hit. The data put up by the women and child development ministry says that many states including Assam, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Bihar have not been able to give supplementary nutrition regularly due to rise in food prices while Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are giving fewer calories than prescribed under nutrition norms. Take-home rations have not been distributed for over nine months in Uttarakhand. Midday meal providers in primary schools too are being forced to compromise on their menu. The net result is a considerable reduction in the nutritive value of the food schemes, which could severely hamper child development. India is home to over 40 per cent of the world's severely malnourished children under-five years of age. Around half of reported infant deaths are related to malnutrition in our country.

If the government schemes themselves are taking a hit due to the inflation of food prices, the budgets of ordinary people, no wonder are taking a much stronger blow. For more than half of the Indians who still live in poverty, food prices are the most important issue for them, as most of their income is spent on buying food from the market. With a vast majority of Indians living on wages below Rs 20 a day, increasing food prices mean hungry stomachs and even starvation.

The recent upheaval in the Middle East, as is becoming clear, is not only a revolt against authoritarian, dictatorial rule that curtailed the rights of the people, but also against the high levels of unemployment and rising prices, especially food prices. These struggles inspire all of us to come out onto the streets and fight for our rights – right to live which includes right to work and right to eat. And, of course, they also give us the confidence that the mighty government is only a Goliath, and it is certain to be defeated by David, the people of the land.

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