Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B S
Yeddyurappa on Friday appealed to the Centre to take urgent
measures to bring down the prices of essential commodities.
In his letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Yeddyurappa said the state
had been badly hit by steep rise in the prices of essential
commodities and no concrete steps had been taken by the
Centre to bring it down.
Calculations were being made merely on a monthly or
quarterly basis, but when the overall picture was seen from
the last two years, there has been a net increase in prices of
almost all the essential commodities, Yeddyurappa said.
Highlighting various measures taken by the Karnataka
government to prevent hoarding and resultant speculation, he
said stock limits have been imposed on essential commodities
and regular inspections were being carried out to verify if
there are any instances of exceeding the stock limits.
The state had extended the benefits of public
distribution system to about 1.06 crore families whereby rice
and wheat were provided at Rs 3 per kg, he said.
In such times, the quantum of food grains being provided
by the Centre has been reduced and additional quantity of rice
and wheat required under PDS was given to the state at minimum
support price derived rates, which has added to the financial
burden of the state, he said.
PTI