Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday set up three working groups of chief ministers to review the shooting prices of agri commodities to ensure effective nationwide distribution of food grains. The decision of constructing the working groups was taken after about a four-hour long marathon meeting of the core committee.
It comprises of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, senior Cabinet ministers and ten chief ministers comprising from different states. Dr. Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting. The food inflation touched the mark of 17.70 per cent. It was seen that centre and state were blaming each other for the rise in food inflation. Therefore centre has decided to involve the states in dealing with the price situation.
Sharad Pawar Agriculture and food minister, after the marathon meeting, briefed the media personnel’s. The first working group of agriculture production will be headed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. In this group other members are chief minister from Punjab, West Bengal and Chief Minister from Bihar. The working group of consumer affairs will be headed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
It will have Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh chief ministers as its members. The third and final working group on food and public distribution will be headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia and it will comprises of chief minister from Assam, Chhattisgarh and chairman of PMEAC (Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council) C Rangarajan as members of this working group. The working groups are asked to submit their report in two months.
