Agencies
New Delhi, Apr 25:
Political parties must not politicise the misery of the people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday after Left leaders met him to voice concern over rising food prices as inflation climbed from last week's 7.14 percent to 7.33 percent.
Manmohan Singh asked the delegation of Left leaders led by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Prakash Karat not to create panic about food scarcity.
"Political parties must not politicise the misery of the people and indulge in scare mongering about food scarcity," said a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
"The government will take all steps to curb inflation. We expect normal monsoon to increase food output. Procurement of food grains is expected to go up," it added.
"Agriculture production was rising. It had gone down after 1996. The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government had taken several measures to step up production."
The Congress-led UPA has been hemmed in by criticism from all sides - its own allies as well as the opposition - for not being able to rein in rising food prices.
"We reiterated before the Prime Minister our demands to ban futures trading, slash duties on petroleum products, strengthen the public distribution system and punish hoarders," said Abani Roy, leader of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Thursday formed a human chain outside Parliament and accused the government of failing to bring down prices.
The Left parties last week addressed a public meeting with the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) here on rising prices.
Left for check on rising prices
Days before the passage of the Finance Bill in the Parliament, Left party leaders on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded urgent steps by the UPA government to check growing prices of the essential commodities.
Top leaders of four Left parties, supporting the government placed six demands before him, saying these measure should be taken immediately to curb burgeoning prices.
"We want the price rise to be curbed immediately. We have placed six demands before the PM and hope the Government will take immediate steps to implement them," CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters after the 45-minute-long meeting.
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