At the end of a volatile meeting on price rise between the PM Manmohan Singh and state CMs, the government decided to set up a panel to revamp the public distribution system.
At the end of a volatile meeting on price rise between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and state chief ministers, the government decided to set up a panel to revamp the public distribution system.
State finance ministers from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu will be members of this panel, along with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and chairman of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council Dr C Rangarajan.
The panel will be asked to recommend measures for reducing the gap between farm and retail prices, map out a wholesale revamp of the Public Distribution System (PDS), and work out ways to augment of warehouses for better storage of grains. “There has been a consensus amongst all the states that PDS needs to be overhauled,” said a government official.
Earlier in the day, the much-awaited conference of chief ministers threatened to turn into a sterile blame game, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s soothing reassurances failed to stop the non-Congress chief ministers from launching a scathing attack on the UPA government, holding it squarely responsible for the runaway rise in food prices.
The PM’s speech, which was meant to allay fears on price rise and suggest ways out of the mess , did not pacify the chief ministers. “Food prices have softened in recent weeks and I expect this to continue,” he said. He also warned hoarders that the Essential Commodities Act would be invoked against them to stop artificial scarcity.
The quarrel between chief ministers and the UPA government escalated when Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi rose to speak. His attacking speech proved too much for finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who intervened in the middle of Modi’s speech.
“Pranabda told Modi three times that he should not politicise the issue of price rise,” said a senior UPA minister who was witness to the exchange.
Modi had earlier said, “I am surprised to learn that the government of India has attributed price rise to adverse weather and climate change.” He contended that “more adverse climatic conditions” had prevailed for three years during 2000-02 which had an “equally adverse effect on agriculture production.”
“Yet, the food inflation was contained within five per cent through better supply side management,” he said. An incensed Modi told reporters outside the venue of the meet that he would “stop attending such meetings if he was not allowed to put forth his views frankly.”
Modi’s speech seemed like a template for all other non-Congress chief ministers to follow. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that the Central allocation for the Public Distribution System (PDS) should be increased. “Price rise is a national problem and states should not be blamed for price rise,” he said.
Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that the price rise was an artificial one and the Centre was responsible for it.
“The NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee controlled prices within a week,” he said.
Kerala chief minister VS Achyutanandan and West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee too echoed the same sentiments, with Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh asking for a ban on forward trading of all food commodities.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}