WATCH: FM Nirmala Sitharaman buys vegetables from Chennai market 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to a local market in Chennai has gone viral on social media, with some praising her for her simplicity while others saying she might now realise the inflation that is hurting the common people. 
    
Sitharaman was on a day-long visit to Chennai on Saturday. During her visit, the finance minister made a halt at the Mylapore market where she interacted with vendors and local residents. She also purchased vegetables.
 
Later, the office of the finance minister put out a video in which she can be seen picking vegetables from the market while locals came to greet her. Sitharaman had a brief chat with vegetable vendors and locals, who appeared happy to see her in the market.

 
Her visit to the market evoked mixed reactions on social media where some people praised her for being closer to the common man while some said that she needs to interact with middle-class income taxpayers as well. "Home loan exemptions are no way near the real EMIs! We end up paying tax on income that goes towards EMIs," said one Aniruddha on Twitter. 

 
Another user by the name of CA Henia on the microblogging site said that he never saw any finance minister visiting the market and that she must do it once a month.
 
Some users also complained about high inflation leading to rising in the cost of living. The price rise has been an issue for the central government as well as the RBI, which has been trying to tackle inflation by raising interest rates. The Centre, however, maintains that high inflation in the country is partly due to external factors like energy prices and the Ukraine war.    
 
Sitharaman on Saturday inaugurated ‘Ananda Karuna Vidhyalayam’ - a multi-disciplinary centre for children with special needs at Kallikuppam, Ambattur, Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The Anandam Learning Centre was started in 2018 for children with learning difficulties such as autism, dyslexia, and slow learning disability and especially caters to those families who cannot afford specialised care.