The question of inflation was finally discussed in Parliament. But the answer given by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is that there can be no meaningful debate during the tenure of the present government. At a time when the whole world is troubled by inflation, is it not strange for the Finance Minister to say that inflation is not a problem in India? The Finance Minister also said that the recent GST imposed on food items will not make any difference to the poor. He also claimed that India would neither suffer from inflation nor stagflation (inflation rate higher than economic growth rate). Apparently all these things seem to distort the facts and the reality of today. By the way, these claims are in line with the style of the present government. It was understood many years ago that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government is not interested in handling the economy, but in handling the economic headlines. So the claims of the Finance Minister became the major headlines.
Clearly a large number of people will believe these claims amidst the media and politics prevailing in the country today. This will serve the immediate purpose of the government. But after all, how long can a society survive by hiding its face from the truth? It is to be noted that the words of the Finance Minister himself seem to ignore the figures of his government. What, then, can be a meaningful debate? If the government does not want to accept even the basic truth, its only aim is to get the edge of the noise even on the problems before it, then whether the stage is of Parliament or of the media – neither the direction of the country will be determined by the discussion there. There may be no basic national consensus. In that case, increasing voter disintegration in the country will be a sure thing. But the reality is that no country or society can live with the scattered truths of different camps – it is a matter of moving forward.
