Driven by the rising food prices, India’s retail inflation accelerated to 7.41 percent in September, the fastest pace in five months, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed on Wednesday. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half the consumer price index (CPI) basket, soared 8.60 percent in September 2022 as against 7.62 percent in August.
Meanwhile, industrial growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted 0.8 percent in August as compared to 2.4 percent in July, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). These data should worry every Indian who cares for the progress of the nation. Unfortunately, on a day when the media as well as people of India should be discussing this important issue, the whole nation was discussing the hijab verdict of the Supreme Court. Today, India is a deeply divided nation on religious lines. Never before has a country been divided so bitterly on religious lines. The BJP and its ideological mentor RSS have managed to create bitter religious division between the majority Hindu community and the rest. The minority group, in particular Muslims, are the worst sufferers of this religious politics. The economy is down and retail inflation is quite high. People have no job and are struggling to make ends meet. But still no one seems to care about such issues. The national media, which act more like spokespersons of the ruling BJP, have managed to keep important issues out of public sight by only focusing on religious issues.