New Delhi, Apr 17: Government on Thursday rejected the Left parties' demand for universalisation of public distribution system and allayed apprehensions of food riots in the country, saying the situation was "not that bad". Winding up a two-day discussion in Rajya Sabha on the price rise issue, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said giving subsidised foodgrains to all sections of society was not possible as it would require more foodgrains for PDS.

He said if PDS was extended to all sections, there would be increase in prices which would hurt the interests of families living below the poverty line. Conveying their displeasure over Pawar's statement, the Left members joined the opposition NDA and Third Front in staging a walk out at the fag end of the over hour-long reply. On another demand of the Left to ban futures trading of agricultural produce, he said the government was awaiting the report of the experts committee headed by Abhijeet Sen.

However, the government would not wait for the report beyond 10 days and would take a decision on the issue, he said. Asserting that "our food position is not that bad that there will be food riots", Pawar appealed to the members not to create an atmosphere of scarcity as it could lead to "more price rise". He said that wheat buffer stocks were likely to improve as indications from the procurement in the initial period of the current season are encouraging. "I am confident we will be able to achieve the 15 million tonnes procurement target this year", he said. He said if need be, the government would release wheat in the open market to stem the prices.