Even before the Modi government’s much-publicized GST rate cut takes effect on September 22, unscrupulous traders in Assam have shamelessly hiked prices of essential goods overnight, looting ordinary citizens under the nose of a silent administration.
Back in 2014, BJP had mocked the Congress over “Mahangai ki Maar” with Modi’s posters plastered across cities. Eleven years later, LPG has doubled from ₹400 to ₹1,000, petrol has crossed ₹100, and inflation is squeezing households harder than ever. Instead of relief, citizens are paying the price of collusion between traders and politicians.
Despite the GST Council’s decision to slash slabs to 5% and 18% — which should bring down prices of daily essentials, household goods, tractors, and even health-related items — Guwahati traders are preemptively inflating costs so they can continue selling at artificially high rates post-cut.
The numbers tell the story:
- Eggs shot up from ₹180 to ₹220 per tray overnight.
- Milk spiked from ₹70 to ₹80 per litre.
- Paneer jumped from ₹500 to ₹600 per kg.
- Potatoes soared from ₹1,400 to ₹2,200 per quintal.
- Mustard oil, already between ₹150–180 per litre, is now touching ₹200.
- Cement bags rose to ₹440, rods from ₹5,200 to ₹5,800 per quintal.
This brazen price manipulation exposes the utter failure of Assam’s supply department, which has become a mute spectator, allegedly pocketing kickbacks instead of acting against racketeers. Political parties, too, remain compromised by election-time “donations” from the same traders they should be regulating.
As citizens struggle to light their kitchen fires, the government stays busy with communal distractions. Inflation’s fire is burning through households, turning Modi’s “festival gift” of GST reform into yet another cruel joke for the people of Assam.
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