National

Keep vigil on prices, says AICC

NEW DELHI: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Saturday urged the government to keep the “strictest vigil” on prices of essential commodities and suggested that it explore and exhaust all options before passing on any additional oil price burden on consumers, despite galloping crude oil prices in world markets.

At the same time, the resolution called upon the government to focus on oil subsidies, be it of kerosene, cooking gas, food or fertilisers, on the “truly poor and vulnerable,” indicating that price rise was a possibility at an appropriate time, possibly after the coming Assembly elections.

The resolution, that was adopted unanimously, noted that there had been “moderation” in the rate of inflation as measured by the wholesale price index, but added that what mattered most was that the (high) prices being paid by the “aam admi.”

In this context, the AICC welcomed the powers granted by the Central government to State governments to carry out dehoarding operations and to take action against black marketeers and speculators — powers that had been taken away by the BJP-led National Democratic government in February 2002.

The resolution called upon the government to exercise “greatest vigil” on the operations of futures markets in agricultural commodities through an effective and statutory system, so that abnormal price increases were checked in time.

Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mentioned as an “achievement” that the government had managed to keep inflation under control in the face of many difficulties.

He said when the UPA government came to power, the price of crude oil was about $ 35 per barrel. It had now risen to almost $ 100 per barrel. Global prices of foodgrains, pulses and edible oil had also seen a sharp rise, he said.

The Prime Minister said the government did not have any control over these factors but it would be its endeavour that essential food items were available to the poor and the needy at “a reasonable cost.”

The Congress resolutions, as well as the speeches of the leadership, skirted the issue of Special Economic Zones and import of almost essential food commodities like wheat, pulses and edible oil at a much higher price than the minimum support price paid to farmers.

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