Jairam Ramesh takes jibe at Centre over economy

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over the country’s economic situation, saying that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims “all is well”, the reality on the ground is marked by soaring prices and shrinking incomes.“The PM keeps saying सब चंगा सी (all is well), but actually सब महँगा सी (everything is expensive),” Ramesh said in a post on X.Highlighting the pressure on household budgets, Congress MP Ramesh cited the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), writing, “Official data just released shows that for four consecutive months now the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) inflation has been hovering around 10%. Prices of all essential commodities have continued their upward rise causing huge hardships to crores of families.”Ramesh further cited findings by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) to highlight the distress in the labour market, particularly in rural areas.“To compound the misery, according to CMIE data, inflation-adjusted wages have also been consistently falling with a 5.7% drop since April. Rural India has seen a massive 9% decline – even in nominal terms, rural wages have fallen,” Ramesh stated.

Ramesh’s remarks came after the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities stood at 110.8 in August 2026, with annual wholesale inflation rising to 9.92 per cent year-on-year (YoY), according to official data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.The figure marked a marginal increase from July 2026, when headline wholesale inflation stood at 9.78 per cent. The all-commodities index also edged up from 110.0 recorded in the previous month.The rise reflected price pressures across major industrial and energy segments. Fuel and power recorded the sharpest increase, with YoY inflation accelerating to 22.93 per cent in August from 20.05 per cent in July.In contrast, inflation in primary articles moderated to 7.76 per cent from 8.52 per cent in the preceding month. Inflation in manufactured products edged up to 8.37 per cent from 8.29 per cent over the same period.