Cabinet,PM as responsible for prices: Pawar

Refusing to take the sole blame for soaring commodity prices,Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that price rise was a collective responsibility of the Cabinet,including that of the Prime Minister....

Refusing to take the sole blame for soaring commodity prices,Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that price rise was a collective responsibility of the Cabinet,including that of the Prime Minister.

Any decision related to prices of commodities is a Cabinet decision,which includes the Prime Minister. It is a collective responsibility, said Pawar,speaking to

the media at the College of Agriculture,Pune. Pawar was replying to a question on the Congress stand on price rise.

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Pawar also reacted strongly to BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekars statement from Kolhapur criticising the Agriculture Minister for price rise. Javadekar had said Pawars theory that price rise had benefited farmers was bunkum. Those who are talking like that are sitting at home. The people of the country have voted the UPA to power for the second time with a greater mandate because they know that we work for their welfare, Pawar said.

He also clarified his stand on BT Brinjal and said it was the Environment Ministry that will approve

BT crops. The Agriculture Ministry will promote BT crops only if the Environment Ministry approves it, he said. Earlier in his speech,however,he said BT cotton had been a boon for India. Nearly 82 per cent of the Indian cotton is now BT cotton in America it is 98 per cent,which he said had proved to be beneficial to farmers.

Pawar said high demand from Indian and Chinese markets was causing sugar prices to soar. Both countries are importing sugar for their domestic markets,which is why the international sugar prices are high, he said.