Left Front demands all-party meeting to discuss price rise

Kolkata: The CPM-led Left Front today demanded that the Mamata Banerjee government call an all-party meeting to chalk out a mechanism to arrest the price rise in West Bengal. “The state government should convene an all-party meeting within seven days to find a mechanism to check price rise of essential commodities. There should not be any delay,” Left Front chairman Biman Bose said.[caption id=“attachment_362904” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Biman Bose. PTI”] [/caption] The state government should also explore application of the Essential Commodities Act, Bose said referring to the price of potato shooting up. On Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s suggestion for sending an all-party delegation to the Centre to press for a three-year moratorium on interest payments by the state, the Front chairman said that its draft should be made clear so that Front could be part of the delegation. He said that a Front delegation submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when he last visited Kolkata, seeking central assistance to tide over the financial crisis in the state. Claiming that the Food Security Bill would not be of help to the common man, he said that since foodgrain stocks in the country were seven crore tonne against the required 2.12 crore tonne, it should be distributed through the public distribution system. Bose said that this would cost the exchequer Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 crore. On Singur, Bose said the state government should not differentiate between willing and unwilling farmers for giving rice at Rs 2 per kg and Rs 2,000 as a monthly allowance. “The government should give the assistance to all till disposal of the case in court,” he said. The Front, he said, would launch a massive campaign from 4 - 17 July statewide against the price rise. Bose said that sit-in demonstrations would be held from 11-15 July at block and municipal areas and also at Kolkata and Siliguri on 17 July together with a law-violation programme. He said that from 25 July to 31 August, the Front would launch a campaign against price rise in West Bengal and in Delhi. PTI