Retail inflation for farmworkers, rural labourers eases in June: Government

According to a labour ministry statement, Retail inflation for farm and rural workers in June eased to 7.16 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, as compared to May this year. As per the statement by a labour ministry “Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agricultural Labourers and CPI-RL (Consumer Price Index for rural labourers) decreased to 7.16 per cent and 7.00 per cent in June 2020 from 8.40 per cent and 8.12 per cent, respectively in May 2020”.

According to official the statement, inflation based on food index of CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at (+) 8.57 per cent and (+) 8.41 per cent, respectively, in June 2020.
The All-India CPI-AL and CPI-RL (Base: 1986-87=100) for June 2020 decreased by 1 point each to stand at 1,018 and 1,024 points, respectively, compared to 1,019 and 1,025 in May this year.

The major contribution towards the decrease in the general index of agricultural labourers and rural labourers came from food, with (-) 1.82 points and (-) 1.58 points, respectively. This is mainly due to falling in prices of rice, arhar dal, masur dal, groundnut oil, meat goat, poultry, vegetables and fruits, among others.

“The softening of inflation is mainly due to the free supply of food grains under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY). This has benefitted a large number of households under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) including agricultural and rural labourers thereby putting less burden on their daily budgetary requirement” said Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.

Director-General Labour Bureau D S Negi said the easing of inflation reflects the efforts done by the central and state governments along with civil societies to ensure supplies of essentials during these testing times amid Covid-19 outbreak.

As per the data, the rise/fall in index varied from state to state. In case of agricultural labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 7 points in 9 states and a decrease of 1 to 19 points in 9 other states, while it remained stationary in 2 states – Manipur and Rajasthan.
Tamil Nadu with 1,214 points topped the index, while Himachal Pradesh with 784 points stood at the bottom.