Pawar says controlling price rise is a collective responsibility - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has refused to cop the blame for soaring commodity and food prices in the country, saying that it is a collective responsibility and requires a collective effort to be brought down. Pawar, who has been in the line of fire for the sky-rocketing prices of food and other commodities in the country, pinned the blame on the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, for deciding the country's price policy. "The prices policy is decided collectively by everybody, including the Prime Minister. It is not a sole responsibility; it is done by the cabinet. There is an expert committee that gives the guidelines, which my ministry forwards in front of the cabinet, and then the entire cabinet takes the final decision on it. That is, we all take the decision collectively and thus includes everybody," said Pawar. The high level of inflation has been a serious cause for concern for quite some time now. In recent weeks, the central government has ramped up its efforts to rein in the prices but the measures are expected to have a little impact as demand continues to outweigh supply.