BJP leaders urge PM to rein in prices

A delegation of senior BJP leaders led by LK Advani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urge the government to take steps to bring down prices, reports HT Correspondent.

A delegation of senior BJP leaders led by LK Advani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to urge the government to take steps to bring down prices.

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They handed a memorandum, which listed some steps that could be taken by the government to deal with the issue.

The BJP leaders suggested the government to “give up do-nothing approach” and introduce a comprehensive food pricing and management policy, which should be measured by a “food price index”.

It wanted the government to estimate the areas of shortage, and urged the PM to ask the ministers not to make “insensitive” statements. “There is a need to reconcile the price index in consonance with actual prices in the market.”

The PM assured them that the government was already working to curb inflation, pointing to fall in production of foodgrains as the main reason for shortage and price rise.