Government worried over high food inflation: K V Thomas

NEW DELHI: Condemning the physical assault on Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar yesterday reportedly in protest against price rise and corruption, Food Minister K V Thomas today stressed that the government is concerned over high food inflation and is taking steps to bring it down.

"This (physical assault on a politician) is not a democratic way... Such acts cannot be accepted," Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) function here.

The Food Minister said the government was worried about high food inflation and taking corrective steps.

Food inflation fell to a single digit at 9.01 per cent during the week ended November 12 from 10.63 per cent in the previous week.

Following the government's initiatives, prices of foodgrains, sugar and onions have stabilised, he said, detailing the efforts to curb price rise.

However, high prices of milk, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables and certain types of pulses, like pigeonpea (arhar), are still pinching citizens, he added.

Asserting that the upward spiral in prices of food items was mainly due to the dynamics of demand and supply, the minister said the government is taking corrective steps like cracking down on hoarders and strengthening the PDS system to overcome the problem.

"We have written to the states also for initiating such corrective steps to smoothen the supply of food items in the markets to lower their prices," Thomas said.

Thomas urged political parties and other organisations leading campaigns against price rise and corruption not to "politicise" these sensitive issues by arousing the sentiment of citizens.