Reacting to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s statement that states were as much responsible to check price rise as the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today said that they were only following the national policy framed by the Centre.
Sonia Gandhi during the AICC session today said that food prices have come down but there was a “need to bring these down further”.
She said states were as much responsible for this as the Centre.
“A policy regarding prices of food grains, or any other items, is chalked out at national level it is not done by the states,” Ms. Mayawati said in a reply to a question.
She said that once a policy is in place, the states have to act accordingly and get it implemented.
“For any price rise, government at the Centre is completely responsible,” she said.
Ms. Mayawati said that the Centre should chalk out a policy to contain price rise.
“Whatever are the economic policies of the Centre, they are not pro-unemployed or pro-poor, they are framed keeping in mind the capitalists which leads to price rise,” she alleged.
She said her government had launched a pro-poor scheme for BPL families from its limited resources. “On the basis of its will power and reducing expenditure, the government has launched a financial support scheme covering 31 lakh BPL families in the first phase,” she said.
