Manmohan Singh calls another meeting on price rise

A spiralling price rise forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call a second meeting on Wednesday on the pressing issue staring at his government.

The food inflation had touched 18.32% in the week ended on Dec 25 with prices of onion bringing tears in the eyes of the consumers.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday presided over a meeting to review the latest market situation over food prices, while his party said the state governments should also act against hoarders to reduce the gap between the prices at which farmers sell and the consumers buy.

The Prime Minister held meeting with some of his cabinet colleagues the day before, including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Alhuwalia, on Tuesday.

At a press briefing later, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said: “The government is sensitive to price rise. The Prime Minister himself called personally the meeting with senior ministers to take cognizance. This shows the sensitivity of the government.”

“The challenge is to reduce the gap between the price farmers get and the price consumers pay.

The prices of onion, which is bringing tears to everybody’s eyes, has gone up by a record 82 per cent over the corresponding period last year. And the vegetables are at an overall high of 59 per cent over the corresponding period last year.