1 Uncorrected/ Not for publication- 08.12.2009 SSS-AKG/11.00/1A ...

184Uncorrected/ Not for publication- 08.12.2009importantly, while the inflation rates have come down everywhere since2008, it is only in India that the consumer inflation rate has increased. Iquote from the source, "Output, Price and Jobs, The Economist of 3 rdDecember, 2009. I give examples, of only a few of the countries,showing the Consumer Price Inflation as on October, 2009, incomparison to October, 2008, (Year on Year Increase %). I quote:"Pakistan, in 2008, it was 25, while in 2009, it is 8.9. In Vietnam, it was23.1; now, it is 7.1. In China, from 4 per cent, it has come down to -0.5. In Malaysia, from 7.6, it has come down to -1.6. And, in India, itwas 10.4 in 2008, and in October, 2009, it was 11.5." So, the argumentof global phenomenon is a bogus argument put forth by the Governmentand that side. Now, the principle factors are domestic, and, we, theLeft, are continuously saying as to what the reasons behind inflation inIndia are. The neo-liberal policies are causing agrarian crisis anderoding self-sufficiency. The main reasons behind high inflation,especially, rising food prices are manifold. There is the weakening of thePublic Distribution System and increase in fuel prices. We had seen it inthe last Session that you did not care about Parliament, that just elevenhours before the Parliament Session was to start, you increased the fueland diesel prices. There is also the failure to check hoarding andspeculation, and weakening the role of the States. With the dominantrole of the private speculators, public procurement continues to remainlimited to a few major crops. Procurement operation was carried outonly in limited parts of the country. Big corporates have been allowedto enter into the food market. There has been an increasing reliance onimports, often at exorbitant prices, erosion of self-reliance in food