April 25, 2008

Press Release

Leaders of the Left Parties, Prakash Karat, A.B. Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, Debabrata Biswas and Abani Roy met the Prime Minister today and submitted a memorandum listing measures that the government should take to curb price rise. The measures suggested are given below:

Measures Suggested by Left Parties to Curb Price Rise

• Strengthen the Public Distribution System by universalizing it; restore the cut in food grain allocations to the states under the PDS; include 15 essential commodities including pulses, edible oil, and sugar in the PDS.

• Put curbs on procurement of foodgrains from farmers by private companies and traders.  

• Ban futures trading in 25 agricultural commodities as proposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution.

• Cut customs and excise duties on oil and reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel. 

• Take stringent action against hoarding of essential commodities; strengthen the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act to empower state governments to deal with hoarding and black-marketing.

• The present requirement of declaration of stocks of foodgrains of 50,000 tonnes and above held in godowns and warehouses should be lowered to 10,000 tonnes.