Economic tragedy, will strain household incomes: Congress on high food prices

The Congress condemned the BJP-led Centre on Monday over the high prices of food items and said this is an "economic tragedy" that will put a strain on household incomes.

Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the high rates of food commodities like tomatoes, onions and potatoes are a "developing tragedy" that will have a long-term impact on the health and nutrition of the poor.

"There was a time when the non-biological PM could not stop speaking of what he called TOP. But Tomatoes, Onions, and Potatoes are now leading a wider surge in vegetable and food prices. Food inflation has averaged 6.3 per cent in the last four years and appears to be getting worse, with a Crisil report putting the cost of a vegetarian thali at 11 per cent higher in September 2024 than the previous year. Vegetable prices alone rose an astonishing 48.7 per cent in September 2024," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"This is an economic tragedy in the strain it will put on household incomes. This is a social tragedy in that it will have disproportionate impact on women's diet. This is a development tragedy in the long-term impact that poor nutrition will have on people's health. A TOP-class disaster for India," the Congress leader added.

He cited media reports to claim that wholesale food prices surged at a two-year-high pace of 9.5 per cent in September, with vegetables becoming nearly 49 per cent costlier, marking the sharpest surge in 14 months.

Reports have claimed that potato and onion prices were up by 78.1 per cent and 78.8 per cent respectively in September.

Retail inflation rose to 5.49 per cent in September from 3.65 per cent in the preceding month, mainly due to higher food prices, according to official data released on Monday. The consumer price index-based inflation was 5.02 per cent in September 2023.

The National Statistics Office's data showed that inflation in the food basket rose to 9.24 per cent in September from 5.66 per cent in August and 6.62 per cent in September 2023.