The rising prices of vegetables, pulses and fuel have been a serious concern in Indian homes in recent years. The sky-rocketing prices of vegetables and pulses have made an average middle class family think twice before buying or consuming them.

Inflation is a continuous and substantial rise in general level of prices of goods and services over time.

In recent years, the government move to liberalise fuel prices, and pass the impact of any increase in oil prices to consumers, has played a substantial role in keeping inflation high. The most visible impact on overall prices in recent months though, has come from vegetable prices, especially onions. Now, new research shows that the link between the two - fuel prices and food prices - is no coincidence.

Led by a 7.55% increase in food prices, India's retail inflation surged to its 21-month high of 5.76% in May.

Retail inflation, as measured by consumer price index (CPI) was 5.47% in April, revised from the earlier estimate of 5.39%. Food inflation was 6.40% last month.

Data released by the statistics office showed that prices of pulses climbed 31.57% followed by sugar and confectionery which became dearer by 13.96%. Clothing and footwear inflation was 5.37%. Fuel inflation was 2.94%.

Experts say that rise in essential food items in India is primarily because of the increasing commodity prices abroad, increase in fuel prices and fertilizers, which in turn affect the local produce by increasing input costs.

It is very sad that Government has no consideration over the hard difficulties being faced by the common man due to the sharp hike in prices of essential commodities. Government need to set up an hour to study the trends in economy, which analyse the exports, imports and domestic agriculture conditions and propose new policies to check the price hike in our country.