New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
convened a meeting of the core group of chief ministers and
Union ministers on April 8 to discuss measures to arrest food
inflation, which is still hovering over 16 per cent.
According to sources, the core committee, which includes
10 chief ministers and some Union ministers, would deliberate
on both long-term and short-term strategies for dealing with
the issue of price rise, particularly of essential items like
pulses, sugar, wheat and rice.
Though prices of some of these items have receded, they
are still ruling above the comfort level for the common man.
Sugar, for instance, has dropped to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 48 a kg
in January but the price is considered high over last year's.
Improving the delivery system through ration shops and
checking on hoarding are the other immediate measures likely
to be discussed by the top-level group.
The group was set up on February 6 after the Prime
Minister had called a chief ministers' meeting to tackle the
price rise.
The core committee includes chief ministers of Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana,
Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Food and Agriculture
Minister Sharad Pawar and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman
Montek Singh Ahluwalia would represent the Centre.
PTI
First Published: Monday, April 05, 2010, 21:27