If you were to pick just one big issue that would weigh heavily on the minds of the Tamil Nadu electorate when they exercise their franchise for the forthcoming Assembly elections, it would be the gross mismanagement of the government on prices.
Granted, the 2G spectrum scam involving former Union telecom minister A Raja would be right up there on the poll planks of all opposition parties, but let us face it: It shows corruption of Himalayan proportions indicating moral turpitude, but has it affected the common man? Has it snatched away the purchasing capacity of his hard earned money? The answer is no.
No issue can be bigger than the compromises people have to make in the kitchen and at the dining table because of the eroding value of the rupee. Much as it might want to point fingers at the Union government for the runaway inflation, the ruling DMK government cannot escape its share of blame for the mess as it is part of the UPA coalition at the Centre.
Although price rise is a normal phenomenon, the cost of essential commodities went through the roof only after the DMK government assumed office in 2006. To be fair, the State government introduced a Special Public Distribution System (SPDS) as an inflation cushion. Through the SPDS, rice was sold at `1 per kg while spices and edible oils and other commodities offered at subsidised prices to the 1.70 crore family cardholders. But was the `1 rice really edible? Some would argue that it resembled cattle fodder. If you keep you ear to the ground, you would hear people below poverty line groaning about substandard commodities at fair price shops, which compound their agony.
Besides, the cost of other essentials in a Tamil Nadu kitchen, such as coconut, has trebled in the past six months. Ditto greens and other vegetables.
One of the major reasons why prices kept spiralling was the frequent increase in oil prices. Since 2006, oil prices went up by 18 times, which pushed up freight rates and had a cascading effect on the cost of all commodities. Besides, the cost of commuting in urban areas went up in a big was as autorickshaw drivers jacked up fares and fleeced passengers. On paper, auto fares are regulated in Tamil Nadu, but that has never happened, giving the drivers a free run. Another reason for the rise in prices was permitting online trading of essential commodities.
The only section that was comparatively insulated from price rise was government employees. Both the Centre and the State government employees were given frequent Dearness Allowance (DA) hikes, keeping that votebank happy. The DMK government is known for looking after its employees. In fact, just one more DA hike will bring them on par with Central government employees. But the pay packets of employees in the private sector did not keep pace with the rise in prices.
Finance Minister K Anbazhagan has argued that the government had cushioned the poor and downtrodden from the impact of price rise through the PDS and by not raising bus fares despite frequent hikes in petrol and diesel prices. The government need not bail out those who have deep pockets, he reasoned.
But the fact remains that the government woke up very late to issue of price rise. By the time the Centre tried to get its act together, the vexed common man had already tightened his belts and learnt to live with the problem.
But people now are in no mood to take lectures on price rise — remember PM Manmohan Singh recently tied price rise to the bulge in the wallet? — and arguments in defence of the government. They want concrete results: a sharp drop prices. Nothing less will suffice. For the DMK, the writing is on the wall.