A delegation of Left Parties led by Shri Prakash Karat called on the Prime Minister to discuss issues pertaining to price rise. The Prime Minister assured the delegation that the Government is taking all necessary steps to ensure that the recent uptrend in inflation is reversed. He informed the delegation that despite an extremely difficult global situation, with global food, commodity and oil prices rising, the Government has been able to ensure that the Indian people are among the least impacted in the developing world. Many other countries have even higher rates of inflation. The Prime Minister said that the Government is confident of increasing procurement of food grains. The Government had already increased Minimum Support Prices to this end. He said that indications are of improved food production this year, which will further contribute to increased food procurement. He expressed confidence that this year a normal monsoon is expected and this should further increase agricultural production.

The Prime Minister urged all Political Parties to eschew the temptation of politicizing the misery of the people and warned against creating an environment of scarcity which would only encourage speculators and hoarders. The Government is taking all necessary steps to deal with the problem and there is no need for Political Parties to indulge in scare mongering.

The Prime Minister drew the attention of the delegation to the fact that agricultural production in India was rising in a robust manner in the 1980s and in early 90s. It is only after 1996 that agriculture has been neglected. The UPA Government has taken several steps in the past four years to increase agricultural production, to give security to farmers, to improve their financial condition and to increase investment in agricultural research and marketing. The Prime Minister said he took personal initiative to convene a special meeting of the National Development Council to draw the attention of State Governments to the problems in agriculture. He has also launched the Food Security Mission and increased investment in Krishi Vigyan Kendras to promote agricultural production. The Government will closely monitor the situation and take steps to strengthen the Public Distribution System and food procurement system in the country.