CPI urges Centre to stop price hike

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 23 (UNI) The Kerala unit of CPI today appealed to the Centre to take immediate steps to contain the hike in prices of essential commodities.

In a statement here, CPI state secretary Veliyam Bharghavan alleged that the Centre was helping major companies like the Reliance, Tata and the Walmart, which were entering the retail market. These companies were hoarding a large quantity of essential commodities to create an artificial scarcity, he claimed.

He alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram were reluctant to change policies on allowing monopoly in the retail sector. ''Before directing the state governments to take steps to arrest price hike, the Centre should have done it,'' he added.

Since the Centre was standing by the ''wrong policies'' that resulted in the hike, there should be a mass agitation to force it to correct its policies, he said.

UNI