Unfazed by his party’s defeat in Punjab and Uttaranchal, Manmohan said inflation is a matter of concern, but it is not easy to control it while stimulating growth.
NEW DELHI: Unfazed by his party’s defeat in Punjab and Uttaranchal and the criticism of key UPA allies such as the RJD and the CPI(M) over the government’s inability to control the price rise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said inflation is a matter of concern, but it is not easy to control it while stimulating growth.
The Prime Minister said this while talking to reporters after RJD chief and railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav met him along with his party MPs to express concern over the recent inflation. Yadav and his party men also called on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi separately. They urged both the Prime Minister and Gandhi to take “serious steps to arrest skyrocketing prices which hits the aam admi.”
“We told the Prime Minister to take measures against hoarding and forward trading,” said Devendra Prasad Yadav, RJD leader in the Lok Sabha. The CPI(M) politburo also issued a strong statement calling for a “change in direction of policies and adoption of pro-people measures.” Saying that the electoral setbacks have a relevance for the UPA government at the Centre, the CPI(M) said the Congress leadership and the UPA government should draw proper lessons from the defeat.
The policies pursued have failed to curb price-rise, tackle the agrarian crisis or provide relief to the people, the party officials said. The Prime Minister, however, failed to promise a speedy solution to the problem.
“We’re trying to control inflation while stimulating the growth impulses in our economy. That is the only way you can create jobs for the youth,” he said. “Everywhere you find there is a trade-off between inflation and growth,” he added.
Congratulating the “parties” for winning the election, the PM said: “These polls are fought on local issues and price rise is not the core one. This is not a referendum against the UPA government and the election has no bearing on the Centre.” The PM said the government is making an all out effort to contain inflation without compromising on the growth of agriculture and industry.
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