Experts to advise if free food comes under CPI

The government wants to know whether free food distributed to nearly 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act 2013 should be kept out of inflation calculation, as it is in the process of creating a new, updated consumer price index (CPI), the gauge that measures changes in retail prices.

- Zia Haq

NEW DELHI:

The ministry of statistics and programme implementation has put out a discussion paper, seeking views from experts on how to "treat" free ration under the public distribution system or PDS, which comprises a network of 500,000 fair-price shops.

"After the launch of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23, MoSPI decided to revise the CPI base year from 2012 to 2024. The base revision exercise is under progress," the paper said, seeking views from experts, economists and academicians on how to account for free PDS items. The last date for submission of expert opinions is January 15.