CPI lashes out at Government over austerity and price rise

New Delhi, Mar 16 (ANI): The Communist Party of India (CPI) slammed the Congress-led Central Government for not addressing the problem of price rise in the country.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, CPI General Secretary B Bardhan accused the government of hoodwink people in the name of austerity drive.

"The austerity drive itself was a farce, it was a farce, a maneuver, an attempt to deceive the people, an attempt to cheat them, it was a fraud. There is no austerity in the government of India. The way expenditure is incurred; we see what is this austerity; can they tell the press or us how much money they have saved in the so called austerity drive?" asked Bardhan.

Bardhan also criticised Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission for hoodwinking the nation on price rise and inflation.

"Every now and then either the Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission or the Finance Minister or some other representative of the government goes on claiming that this (inflation) is marginally coming down. Last week they had said that the inflation rate i.e. the food inflation rate has come down by 0.06 percent, now this is a mockery," Bardhan said.

The austerity drive was started last by the Central Government that asked ministers and bureaucrats to cut down on needless expenses at a time of recession and deepening drought.

The government's austerity measures may come to an end on March 31.

Annual wholesale price inflation accelerated to 9.89 percent in February, the highest since October 2008 and well above the Reserve Bank of India's end-March projection of 8.5 percent and the 8.56 percent January reading.

The inflation data comes on the heels of a 16.7 percent annual jump in industrial output in January, with the unexpectedly strong economic pickup also backing the case for the central bank to raise policy rates by at least 25 basis points. (ANI)