Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Accusing the government of not taking tangible steps to check rise in prices, the opposition Wednesday said that wrong policies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were responsible for food inflation.

Initiating a short duration discussion on price rise in the Rajya Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said there was no clarity in the government on ways to bring down prices.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the government’s policies were increasing the gap between the rich and poor while Congress member Prabha Thakur argued that the UPA’s policies had led to growth in income of the common person.

According to Naidu, the government’s measures to bring down prices had “failed”.

He said “lack of leadership and foresight in government, sheer incompetence, wrong policies and corruption” were responsible for the sharp increase in prices.

“No tangible steps have been taken…If (the government) has run out of ideas, it should better quit and let people decide,” Naidu said.

Countering him, Prabha Thakur said the opposition slammed the government for increase in prices but did not say that incomes have also risen.

“Whenever there is rise in income of the common man, there is rise in prices,” she said.

She said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were committed to curbing price rise and providing relief to people.

The Congress MP said states were also responsible for checking rise in prices.

Yechury refuted her and said the argument about the increasing income of the common man was not true and only the rich were growing richer.

He called upon the government to “ban speculative trading in agricultural commodities, reduce hike in prices of petroleum products and provide extra food grain stocks to states at below poverty line (BPL) prices” as steps towards checking price rise.