AIFB criticises govt steps to control essential commodity prices

New Delhi, Apr 1 (UNI) The announcement by the UPA government on various measures to control the price rise of essential commodities is ''a cosmetic one'', the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) said here today.

''It is a cruel Joke,'' the party said, adding while the people were suffering from unprecedented price rise, the Centre was making jugglery with numbers and describing it as an international phenomenon.

The Government should take immediate steps to universalise and strengthen the PDS, ban the future trading of at least 25 essential commodities, restructure the tax structure of petroleum products and to reverse the Essential Commodities Act, the party said.

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