New Delhi : A majority of Indian families are feeling the pinch of rising expenses due to inflation and seem convinced that growing expenses in the last one year are becoming difficult to manage, as per an IANS-CVoter survey.
This was revealed during an exclusive survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS in the four states — Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — and the Union Territory of Puducherry, where Assembly elections were held in 2021.
A series of questions and a diverse range of issues were asked to gauge public opinion on social, political and economic challenges confronting the country. That Indian families are deeply worried about rising expenses and inflation does not come as a surprise as latest government data confirms this.
The retail inflation rate based on the consumer price index was at 7.79 per cent in April, while the wholesale rate of inflation was an even more daunting 15.2 per cent, as per the statistics released by the Reserve Bank of India.
In Tamil Nadu, almost two-third of the respondents said that they were finding it difficult to manage rising expenses. Another 22 per cent said that while expenses had indeed gone up, they were just about able to manage.
In neighbouring Kerala, about 62 of the respondents stated that they were finding it difficult to manage rising expenses while another 25 per cent were of the opinion that while expenses had gone up, they were still manageable.
The situation seems equally dire in other states too. In Assam, two out of three respondents stated that they were finding it very difficult to manage rising expenses while another 18 per cent claimed that while expenses had gone up, they were just about able to manage.
West Bengal seems to be the most adversely affected of the states. As many as 74 per cent of the respondents claimed that they were finding it very difficult to manage growing expenses. Another 16 per cent stated that they found expenses rising but were able to manage.
Indian families seem to be trapped in a vicious cycle of rising expenses even as incomes have either gone down or remained stagnant since the last one year, as per the survey.
While the state governments and chief ministers score quite well on performance ratings, ordinary voters are convinced that the financial condition of their families has deteriorated since the elections were held in 2021.
In Assam, close to 51 per cent of the respondents said that family expenses had gone up while incomes had actually gone down. Another 19 per cent reckoned that while family incomes had remained stagnant, expenses had gone up.
The story was not very different in the other states that went to the polls in 2021. In West Bengal that neighbours Assam, 46.5 per cent of the respondents said that family incomes had gone down in the last one year while expenses had gone up. Another 31.5 per cent claimed family incomes had remained stagnant while expenses had gone up.
Voters down south shared similar sentiments. In Kerala, 39 per cent of the respondents said their personal income had gone down while family expenses had gone up, while 34 per cent of the respondents claimed that incomes had remained stagnant while expenses had gone up.
In Tamil Nadu, 39 per cent of the respondents stated that expenses had gone up while personal income had gone down. Another 35 per cent said that personal income remained stagnant while family expenses had gone up.
–IANS