Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya: Salaries Not Enough To Last 10-15 Days A Month Due To High Costs

The government of India had informed the Lok Sabha, earlier this year, that it had increased the minimum salary ceiling from Rs 18,000 per month to Rs 24,000 per month and had warned that it will take necessary actions to make sure employees working in private companies get the minimum salary of Rs 24,000 per month. While this salary mark is yet to be achieved in reality, inflation and rising expenses have crippled the working class even as there is no respite for tens of thousands of job seekers in Indian metropolitan cities.

The spirit of rural population is further down due to the agrarian crisis that has gripped the hinterlands but has continued to face severe neglect by successive dispensations.

As it is, living expenses have risen manifold in metropolitan cities with the prices of basic everyday utilities such as vegetables, edible oil and spices climbing at a rapid pace. Fruits and healthy food are costlier still and people have to further squeeze their wallets if they wish to opt for organic vegetables.

Representative Image. BCCL

But these do not end here. From metro fares to train tickets and taxi and auto rides, almost every single aspect that the employed population uses has seen an unprecedented inflation in recent years.

The result? Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya.

In other words, the rising prices of daily utility goods or services that the employed population uses may not have impacted them as much if their salaries too increased at the same rate. The case is the exact opposite and many from the working class are becoming increasingly worried about the road ahead.

On the other hand, lakhs of jobs have already been lost and therefore demanding a greater hike may result in further job cuts, workers fear. Many say that the amount that would last them for a month in 2010 is now barely sufficient for 10 days.

This means that at least 200 per cent increase in salaries is what was required to fill this gap whereas the salaries have remained more or less stagnant over the same period. And why blame them because if you look at even the prices, they have multiplied anywhere from 75 to 200 per cent in many cases!

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE. BCCL

On the other hand, the job seekers are not finding new jobs as the overall mood in the country is apparently low and investors are unwilling to take any risk. Further, the government¡¯s much hyped initiatives like the Skill India programme have yielded little result.

It has emerged that of about 72 lakh trainees under the government of India¡¯s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), a meagre 21 per cent have been able to bag placements. This is enough to trace the turmoil that private companies may be withstanding at present.

All of this is having a cascading impact on Indian economy because people are left with very little amount, if at all, to save as deposits in their bank accounts. The salary that they are earning is getting exhausted within the blink of an eye, and more than anything else, the fall in per capita savings, as opposed to per capita income, is contributing to the economic slowdown that India is now facing.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE. BCCL

There is no denying that emphasis must be laid on creating new jobs and boosting the morale of entrepreneurs in India but doing these in a manner that the problems of those already employed are also taken into consideration will help sail the economy through this turmentuous phase.

The economic slowdown will end the moment people will have money in their wallets. Right now, the salaries are low and expenses are high, which has rendered the wallets empty. On the other hand, entrepreneurs with wealth at their disposal are too scared to invest in India, thanks to anti-corporate attitude along with harassment of some leading entrepreneurs under the ruling dispensation.