Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 3: Steep rise in prices of fruits and vegetables have forced over 55 per cent of middle and low income groups to switch over to pre-cooked and ready-to-eat food items to keep the kitchen budget intact.
“Middle income group and lower income group find difficult to manage the household budget. No clarity on GST has suddenly pushed up prices of vegetables and fruits by 300 per cent. In last three years, the salary of average common man have gone up by 10-15 per cent but on the other side the prices of vegetables have also gone up by 250-300 per cent,” said former minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today while talking to deputations from Gandhi Nagar area.
Bhalla said that the prices of most of the widely consumed vegetables have shot up during the last two weeks in most parts of the country with the early onset of monsoon rains, seriously hitting the common man. He said the soaring prices of fruits and vegetables have put household budget in a state of disarray.
He alleged that State Government has also failed to contain the rising prices of fruits and vegetables. The supply of milk, egg and fruits like pomegranate has trickled. Not only farmers, but traders, vendors and customers are too suffering due to this, he added.
Non-vegetarians are also facing a tough time with the rising price of chicken and fish. “The price of chicken has increased by Rs 10 per kg while that of fish has increased by about Rs 20-Rs 30 compared to last week. Prices of food and other essential commodities are spiraling up like nobody’s business and common people are groping for a respite. The present inflation, which is driven by the prices of food grains, pulses, vegetables and fruits, is not a demand-driven inflation, but is the result of the failure of the Government policy on the agricultural front to raise output.
Bhalla expressed serious concern over non-implementation of GST in J&K from July 1 and said that non-implementation of GST shall mean total collapse of trade and industry in the State.
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