Reference Auto

Manipulation has probably seen prices of vegetables such as onions and tomatoes along with fruits soar to unprecedented levels. This is the ideal time – just before Christmas and New Year – for hoarders to manipulate as the demand soars.

So, the unusual prices coupled with an uptick in demand have allowed hoarders, retailers as well as wholesales make a quick buck. Not that the issue is entirely stage-managed.

Yes, there may be an iota of truth in the inflation figures. As per data, food inflation shot up to 12.13 per cent this week from 9.46 per cent last week. And, a price rise is only natural.

But not the kind we see in newspapers which have reported that vegetable prices have risen 15.5 per cent in a year, while the figure for milk is 17.7 per cent, for fruits it is 20.1 per cent, for egg, fish and meat 19.4 per cent and for condiments and spices it is a whopping 32 per cent.

But, as the government does not have a proper mechanism in place to check manipulators, prices tend to head skyward.

Like stock market watchdog Sebi, which has brought a great deal of transparency into our bourses over the years, can we not have an autonomous regulator to check hoarding by traders and wholesalers? In fact, the body can declare retail price trends of vegetables on a weekly basis and put it in newspapers so that hoarding can be obliterated.

Yes, it is an insurmountable task to reach out to every nook and corner of the country, but once a mechanism is put in place, it could help find a long-term solution to check prices of vegetables.

Is A Raja’s CBI grilling too late?

Are we going to see the conviction of a once stalwart politician A Raja, who has drained the government coffers of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, in awarding telecom licences.

Well, even though the CBI has zeroed in on him (after Raja decided to give the investigating agency an audience), the probe has started late enough to allow destruction of evidence. So, now is it time for another politician (Raja) to go scot free?

Moreover, what’s baffling is that Raja’s party, the DMK, instead of reprimanding him, is campaigning in his support. And this could pave the way for other politicians to follow suit and garner support of friends, aides and party men to conceal their crimes.

Backing a politician under such circumstances is tantamount to supporting corruption. So, are we in India actually interested in weeding out corruption or are we still supporting it?

The CBI has also raided Suresh Kalmadi in Pune and found a CD which allegedly contained evidence against him. The person who had the CD in his possession was blackmailing Kalmadi and demanding Rs 4 crore.

This is something Kalmadi did not reveal to the police, clearly indicating that he could have been a party to the irregularities that took place during the Commonwealth Games.

Like the Raja case, the government has allowed the CBI to go ahead with its probe but has also given Kalmadi ample time to come clean (by destroying evidence?). At least, the Congress can claim that their partymen are not beyond the law.