Worst is over, prices coming down: Sharad Pawar

"As stated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (at the meeting of Chief Ministers on price rise), worst time is over. I am absolutely confident about that....the situation will change. We are on line for better days," Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said winding up a day-long discussion in the Lok Sabha on price rise.

The entire opposition staged a walkout dissatisfied over the reply. While the Left Parties, Samajwadi Party and RJD left the House first, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj led the NDA out of the House soon after.

Pawar in his reply, which lasted for more than an hour, doled out statistics to drive home the point that prices of various essential commodities like pulses, sugar, potato and onion have started coming down over the past three months.

On the other hand, farmers in West Bengal are suffering because the prices of potato have crashed, he said, adding the government would take necessary action to safeguard the interest of growers.

Earlier intervening in the debate, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would initiate action to bridge the gap between wholesale and retail prices to ensure that farmers got a fair deal.

The Rajya Sabha also discussed the issue day-long after Opposition relented for a debate in both Houses under rules which do not involve voting.

Pawar said higher minimum support prices, which is also responsible for price rise, have helped in providing better returns to farmers and incentivised them to produce more.
As far as consumers are concerned, he said the government tried to protect their interest by providing subsidy on food, the bill for which has gone up from Rs 19,000 crore to Rs 72,000 crore in six years.

Because of the steps taken by states like Bihar, Punjab and Haryana, the shortfall in monsoon-hit kharif has been limited to nine million tonnes as compared to earlier projection of 16 million tonnes.

While the Centre has already provided Rs 1,000 crore to Bihar to compensate it for subsidising diesel to farmers, Punjab and Haryana would be appropriately rewarded through a package.

Pawar's statement was significant as it came a day before presentation of Union Budget by the Finance Minister."At appropriate time, Punjab and Haryana will be paid back by the Centre," Pawar said.

During the debate, the Opposition sought to puncture the economic growth story, charging the government with "failure" to check price spiral and demanded a Parliamentary probe into a "scam" in essential commodities like wheat, rice, pulses and sugar.

Launching a scathing attack in both the houses of Parliament on the issue of price rise, opposition BJP and the Left alleged that the UPA was indulging in blame game instead of controlling runaway inflation, particularly of food items.

After stalling proceedings for two days on the issue, the Opposition mounted a fresh offensive on the government through a structured debate, simultaneously in both houses which skipped the question hour.