Price rise: Cong leaders seeks support of all states, parties

Puducherry, Jun 13 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning V Narayanasamy today asserted that the price rise could be checked only if all the parties and State Governments took initiatives.

Addressing a press conference here, he said it was not proper on the part of the state government to put the blame on the Centre without fulfilling its responsibilities. The Centre had no option, but to hike the prices of petroleum products, because of the steep hike in the price of crude in the international market.

However, there was no upswing in the price of kerosene, used by the poor. The hike when compared to the one effected during the previous NDA government was meagre, he underlined.

The Left parties were also consulted about the price hike and it is not proper on their part to organise agitations and criticise the government for price hike. Some parties were organising agitations in a bid to reap political mileage and malign the UPA Government, he said.

Stating that the Union government was taking steps to reduce the prices of petroleum products, Mr Narayanasamy said on directions of AICC President Sonia Gandhi, the Congress ruled States had reduced the sales tax on petroleum products to keep the price under check.

However, in other States, particulary those ruled by the BJP like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, 47 to 50 per cent of the essential commodities meant for distribution through the PDS were being sold in the black market. The state governments also failed to prevent hoarding of essential commodities.

He called upon all state governments to cooperate with the Centre in ensuring that the schemes and subsidies announced by the latter reached the people.

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