Tamil Nadu

CPI (M) leader’s poser to Chidambaram

MADURAI: CPI (M) leader T.K. Rengarajan on Sunday criticised the Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s claim that the country had achieved record production of food grain during the United Progressive Alliance regime, and wanted to know why the prices were rising when there was record production level.

“After we withdrew support and when there was a debate in Parliament, the Finance Minister told the House that food grain production touched an all-time high of 230.67 million tonnes. When the supply was more, then why are the prices shooting up,” Mr. Rengarajan, MP, asked.

He was here to address a conference of university teachers’ association on the theme ‘social control on higher education.’

He pointed out that the Union Finance Minister’s statement in Parliament suggested that there was record production in every aspect, including rice (96.43 million tonnes), wheat (78 million tonnes), pulses (15 million tonnes), oil seeds (28.82 million tonnes) and cotton (25.81 million tonnes).

The Communist leader, who is also the CITU national vice-president, said the general understanding was that when the supply was more the prices would be less and vice-versa.

“All these records of food grain production were stated to be achievements of the UPA government. The contention of Left Parties is why prices are high at a time when we have record production.”

According to Mr. Rengarajan, the prices cannot be contained because an active ‘online business’ is going on in food grain and hence even if we have high production, the common man will not benefit.

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