ALL RiSE...

We have entered into the year 2009 about which a prediction was made in the heydays of 2007, something like this:
India will have a robust growth in the year 2009 with a GDP growth of more than 10%.
The current predictions and the prevailing trends all indicate that we are shortly to experience deflation which is by no means an encouraging sign for a developing and hugely populous country like India. The prediction for the GDP growth rate is hovering between 6.5 to 7.3%. Inflation ended at 6.38% in the current week and will experience a sharp decline in the coming weeks as a cut in the fuel prices are imminent in the near future. It will be interesting to see how far the consumers are benefitted in a deflation economy. However, one is for sure, an expectation can be made that food items will become cheaper and food prices of the dishes offered in the eateries may come down.
But the real twist in the story comes here. In spite of the dwindling prices it seems the people who run these eateries are more interested in increasing the span of their profits.
Staying in a hostel of a reputed engineering college of India has its own pros and cons with the previous dominating the later. It is also lucrative to join a mess which offers well to do food at a reasonable price. More importantly, you can eat you your heart out without having to pay additionally.
So the point of increasing the mess charge by 120 odd rupees per month is not only unscrupulous but also inexplicable. The irony is that the prices are predominantly dependent on the market in a self deemed university like ours where the government funds are in a substantial amount. It is also hilarious that the management which runs these messes is completely unaware of the laws which govern our country. These bunches of nincompoops do not even bother to update themselves about the current affairs and the prevalent of an important law called the Right to Information Act or the RTI act. Whenever a student goes for an enquiry about the mess bill, they are told to check in the main hostel office and when they run a kilometer ahead to this office after standing in a queue for half an hour or so, they are told to confirm with the mess management. In short, the students are made to run through a vicious circle manufactured entirely by the mess management and blessed by the authorities.
The most disappointing aspect is that these price rises are enforced without any consultation with the students themselves and the so called student representatives also keep mum in this respect. It is a great irony that when the price of the essentials are dwindling and there is every possibility of a deflation in the coming months, mess charges keep on increasing without any proper justification and the students who are busy playing counter strike or for that matter watching movies, let these burning matters go unobtrusive.