Sanjaya Baru is right in asserting that it’s not only the Centre but also the state governments that have to play an active role in inflation control (“Politics of inflation”, August 2). In a country of continental dimensions, widely differentiated by economic growth, income and poverty levels, the central government’s measures to check price rise have to be complemented by state-level initiatives and innovations. However, the politics of inflation has diverted the attention from regarding uncontrolled inflation as a national challenge, with political parties busy playing the blame game.
The author’s suggestion that the Congress party should be aggressive in highlighting the lapses of states would have been more relevant had the performance of the Congress party in the states ruled or supported by it been inspiring. The worst example of lax attitude of states is Maharashtra which has the highest number of farmer suicides and a lacklustre track record of food productivity and distribution. Besides, Opposition-ruled states complain of inequitable allocation of resources required to face the situation. It would be in the national interest if political parties refrain from using inflation as a milch cow and work together to overcome it.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
