Adulteration in the time of inflation

Turning innovative, they have found “adulteration,” a nice ploy to keep consumers happy, at least till their goods are sold.

This housewife had a taste of that innovation:  “We bought half a kilo of tur dal from the local trader and found that it was mixed with channa dal! Being a staple diet, we cannot afford to ignore the commodity,” lamented the housewife, Kshama.

 Mixing poor quality of rice with stones to increase the quantity is an age-old trick.
 
“ We went to K R Market hoping for lower prices, it was Rs 5 less but full of stones,” recalled Sevanthi, a domestic help.

Did someone say inflation is on a downswing?
 “In the ration shop we only get rice, wheat - they do not give dal, sugar etc. So we just make rice mixed with coconut and masala, no dal.  I've never seen such high prices in my life. We are all shocked in our area,” added Sevanthi.

 With prices of most essential commodities zooming up, IT players to NGO workers, government employees to the self-employed, are all feeling the pinch.

“The price of rice is at Rs 60/kg , tur dal at Rs 100/kg and Palak at Hopcoms is selling at Rs 9 a bunch. Who says inflation is down?” this tell-tale remark by Aishwarya, an NGO employee, is echoed throughout the City.

With a salary that is barely taxable, her recent monthly grocery bills have run up to a total of Rs 733 for a one time shopping.

“It is almost Rs 400 more than what it used to be. So much so, I was overwhelmed and asked the cashier to recheck, tried to cull things out, but all I had in my basket were mere essentials,” she added.

“We do not know what to do, who to tell. And our local leaders who after gathering our votes do not worry about us. As far as MLAs go, after the elections they have been least interested in us,” Sevanthi laments about the politicians. Sevanthi now intends to ask for a salary hike from her employers.