With no indication that the prices of essential commodities will come down anytime soon, a harassed Congress today asked the government to initiate more steps to curb the price rise. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, however, remained non-committal on lowering of sugar prices and put the onus on the states.
“If the states cooperate then I am sure sugar prices can be tamed. I am not an astrologer who can predict when things will fall in place,” Pawar told reporters.
The Congress leadership took a more defensive stance and asked the government to take steps. “We agree, prices of some essential commodities have gone up. But if the current measures don’t work, alternatives are available to tackle the situation. By ‘alternatives’ we mean alternative policy measures,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
The Congress party also claimed that it is in a “hyper-attacking mode” against price rise.
For the Congress — the leader of the UPA — the problems are deepening. Not only have the major Opposition parties planned to campaign on this issue, but ally Trinamool Congress has also slammed the Congress for its failure to control prices. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had criticised the prime minister for not controlling the price rise and demanded an all-party meeting on the issue.
The Congress quashed these charges and asked Trinamool and other parties not to politicise the issue. “Let us not try to score debating points. This is a matter of deep and genuine concern,” Singhvi said.
The BJP has decided to launch a week-long agitation throughout the country from January 18 against inflation. The Left parties have also called for a rally against price rise on January 12.
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Terming Sharad Pawar’s recent statement that sugar prices would be high for the next three years as ‘irresponsible’, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, “Pawar says he is not an astrologer. If that is so, how did he predict that prices would remain high for three years?”
“It is the work of a minister to speak on how inflation can be reduced. But the prime minister and finance minister are only talking about price rise,” he added.
Pawar, on his part, blamed the Uttar Pradesh government for the high retail prices of sugar. As the UP government has imposed a ban on processing of imported raw sugar, Pawar said, “Imported raw sugar is lying at the Kandla port for more than two months as the UP government is not allowing millers to process it.”
“If the millers had processed it, an additional 250,000 lakh tonne per month would have become available bringing down prices,” Pawar said.
The Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) is scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss price rise in food items particularly sugar.