New Delhi: The Government on Tuesday night was advised to check inflation—at a meeting where opinion matters. A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) expressed concern over rising prices and asked the Government to take “appropriate steps” to tackle the situation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the meeting, which was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior party leaders, that the government was working to contain inflation.
Singh assured that some steps have already been taken to check prices and more will be implemented soon, said AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi in statement after the meeting.
"There were positive suggestions", Dwivedi said when asked whether the CWC’s "concern" amounted to a criticism of the government for its handling of the economy.
This was the second time in six months that the CWC has expressed its concern over inflation and may reflected its fears ahead of the Assembly polls in four states, including Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had described inflation as the "only fly in the ointment".
"Inflation is largely a monetary phenomenon... we are taking steps on monetary and fiscal fronts," he told Parliament.
The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to increase the Credit Reserve Ratio and wheat and sugarcane production would decrease inflation, he said.
''Though we are concerned about the inflation, it is also a fact that in the last ten years, the highest inflation was during June 2001 (when the NDA was in power) when it touched 8.8 per cent. The average inflation during the UPA regime was between 3 and 3.5 per cent,'' said Chidambaram.
Despite the BJP and the Left opposing the Indo-US Nuclear deal, the CWC endorsed the government's stand.
The nearly three-hour meeting also welcomed the resumption of composite dialogue with Pakistan. It was also briefed on Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit to India.
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