Pressure for convening the meet had been mounting from the partners of the coalition government headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee had earlier resigned from the coordination committee of the alliance on the issue. The issue also figured prominently in the elections to the four state assemblies.

However, briefing newspersons after the meeting, union food minister S Barnala said there was no attempt to politicise the issue at the meetingand the discussions took place in a cordial atmosphere.

According to him, the main conclusions of the meeting were as follows:

*The National Crop Forecasting Centre will be immediately set up under the ministry of agriculture which would make full use of the facilities of the Department of Space and National Informatics Centre.

* The Essential Commodities Act would be reviewed to examine as to how the states can be empowered for effective action against the hoarders and offending traders not only in respect of foodgrains but also in items like vegetables, edible oils etc.

* A group of officials, headed by the cabinet secretary, would be constituted to make suitable recommendations both on the amendment of the act and the steps that should be taken to improve the enforcement mechanism. Representatives of some of the states would also be included in the group.

* The states would take advantage, whenever warranted, of the powers already delegated to them under the Essential Commodities Act to take effective action for curbing malpractices relating to essential commodites.

* The Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) would berestructured to make it more functional and enable it to carry out monthly reviews on prices and ensure timely corrective action. The states would similarly consider setting up similar committees.

* A special cell would be set up under the cabinet secretariat to monitor and analyse price data and trends of essential commodities. It would also service the CCP which would take decisions on imports and exports of essential commodities.

The cell will establish a mechanism for obtaining crop price and production data from various centres in the country and share the information suitably with the states.

A joint monitoring mechanism for prices and production would be established under the chairmanship of the cabinet secretary which will hold quarterly meetings with the chief secretaries of states.

The states will initiate urgent steps to implement a programme for establishment of efficient and cost effective cold storage to minimise high percentage of waste coupled with related programmes to develop foodprocessing industries.

The finance ministry will examine the possibility of providing soft loans to the states from the banking system for improving cold storage and warehousing facilities.

In the event of abnormal increase in the prices of any perishable essential commodities, states would undertake market intervention operations for distribution at reasonable prices till the situation reverts to normalcy.

To facilitate such market interventions, the centre will provide necessary funds on matching basis. Such commodities will be distributed through the public distribution system.

With regard to the fiscal deficit of the government as well as those of the states, concerned efforts will be made by both the centre and the states to augment revenues, realise user charges fully and curb unproductive expenditure.

The items included by the central and state governments under the PDS will be reviewed from time to time.

States will take immediate action to remove restrictions, including informalrestrictions, if any, on the movement of essential commodities so that the free flow of essential commodities is ensured.

Earlier, the prime minister in his opening remarks had described rising prices as a national problem and stressed the need for cooperation and sharing of responsibilities between the centre and the states to tackle the situation. Politicisation of the issue should be avoided, he said.

Stating that the main reason for the recent spurt in prices is unfavourable weather, he emphasised the need to shift focus to medium- and long-term strategies for better management of prices of essential commodities.

The prime minister also underlined the need for common approach by the centre and the states in the areas of production, supply, distribution and export-import management of agricultural produce.

Govt delayed action on onions, admits PM

Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has admitted that the central government had failed to take timely action on the onion issue, which probablyaccentuated the price of the vegetable over the past few months. "It could have made a difference if the decision to place onions under open general license (OGL) with zero import duty coupled with arrangements for speedy imports had been taken somewhat earlier," Vajpayee told the chief ministers' conference here to review the price situation.