Karat for ban on forward trading

Bhubaneswar, July 8 (UNI) CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat today demanded that the forward trading responsible for hoarding of essential commodities in the country be banned.

Mr Karat told mediapersons here that the Left parties have decided to go for a week-long movement across the country to mobilise the people to take effective steps to check hoarding.

The CPM leader said the party had earlier warned the UPA government that the rise on the prices of petrol and diesel would have cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities, but the UPA government did not pay any heed to it.

He said the forward trading would ultimately lead to speculation and finally the hoarding. The practice of big traders hoarding the goods actually started and was encouraged during the NDA government, he alleged.

Mr Karat said the left parties had been demanding that the forward trading be stopped forthwith so that the hoarding of essential commodities could be checked to a great extent.

CPM General Secretary took exception to the Planning Commission's recent directives to the state government to restrict the issue of BPL cards to less than 30 per cent of the total population.

Rejecting the stand of the Planning Commission, Mr Karat said the Commission's observation was not based on the ground realities.

He said a proper survey be conducted on the BPL families by the state governments and accordingly the Public Distribution System (PDS) be strengthened.

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