Mumbai:
The government is considering an alternative consumer
price index (CPI) to get a better picture of inflation.
The new CPI would be based on retail prices of items used
by the urban population, including personal services and
would cover all segments of the population in more than
300 towns, labour minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu said in
a written reply in Parliament.
The
consumer price indices have been showing a decline amidst
a surge in retail prices of essential commodities, including
food items. The government has also been facing criticism
on this score. The consumer price index has failed to
reflect the ground situation with the annual rate of inflation
based on the wholesale price index hovering below the
five per cent mark for a long time now.
At
present, the government releases wholesale price data
every week and consumer price indices (CPI) for industrial
workers, farm and rural labourers and urban non-manual
employees every month.
"These
indices do not encompass all the segments of the population
in the country, and as such do not reflect true picture
of the price behaviour in the country," the minister
said.
"The
proposed CPI (urban) would cover all segments of urban
population,
namely, affluent class, middle class and poor spread over
to more than 300 towns of all types including metros,"
he added.
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