Blame game no answer to food inflation

Ever since the UPA returned to power for a second term in the summer of 2009, food inflation has been haunting it. There was a bit of relief afterthe monsoon this year, but it did not last. It has now climbed to 12.13% for the week ended December 11.

It all began with the soaring prices of onions last fortnight. The government responded by banning onion exports and removing import duty. But inflation spread to tomatoes and other vegetables, and now covers the rest of the food basket. The government is perplexed and groping for an answer.

The usual suspects are the hoarders, which means it is not a supply problem, especially after a bountiful monsoon. But this needs to be established if action is to be taken against them. The government could have handled the supply side effectively through its grain procurement and public distribution channels.

The UPA government is so involved in fighting the many scams that have engulfed it in the last few months that it does not have the time to think of other issues, including the monitoring of food prices. This is something that could hurt the image of the UPA much more than charges of corruption, because it pinches the middle-class and the poor. It shows that the government is not keeping a tab on food prices and that it is not taking timely counter-measures, which could allay if not prevent the distress of the people.

The blame game is, of course, on. There is criticism of food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and a senior ally of the Congress in the UPA government. Fixing blame might make the besieged Congress happy in the pyrrhic sense because the ultimate blame for the situation will have to be borne by the UPA, and not just one of its partners and one of its ministers.

What is lacking is a clear policy on the food and farm front. Higher prices are but a symptom of something that is wrong with the system as a whole. The Manmohan Singh government will have to think about the problem in broader terms instead of knee-jerk responses like tweaking the food export-import channel. As it sinks into the mire of corruption, this government seems incapable of addressing the larger issues.