Prices and cost of living in India

The book is a pioneering study of the behaviour of prices and cost of living in one of the north-east frontier States of the Indian Union, Assam, which despite being a marginally surplus State in rice production has been experiencing persistent rise in prices in general induced primarily by abnormally rising price of rice. The central hypothesis tested is that any surplus region can experience inflation through rising food prices if its food production is subject to violent short term fluctuations and/or if it is surrounded by deficit areas.

Besides examining the trend, seasonal variations and random fluctuations of prices in Assam, the author has studied changes in the cost of living of various population groups in the State during the first two decades of planning. He has also examined the supply response to price changes and the spread of prices in Assam. The book also contains a comparative study of the behaviour of prices and cost of living in Assam and All India. After establishing the fact that both the absolute level of prices and the rate of price rise in Assam are higher compared with the All-India averages, the author has unveiled the reasons for these phenomena.

The book will be extremely useful to the students of Economics and Commerce, general readers and policy makers. In the opinion of the expert consultant of the ICSSR the book will be a "really valuable one for the plan ning of the economic development of Assam in the context of the country as a whole or at least the whole eastern and north-eastern region".