Admitting that there has been an "unhappy pressure" on the prices of food grains and products, Government on Monday promised to tackle the problem in the interest of ‘aam aadmi'.
"Higher prices were inevitable given the shortfall in domestic production and prevailing high prices of rice, cereals and edible oils globally," the President said.
In her customary address to joint sitting of Parliament marking the beginning of the Budget Session, she said the 'aam aadmi' had to be protected against the ravages of the worst ever global economic crisis since the Great Depression and against the failure of the monsoon in large parts of the country.
Turning to the issue of rising prices, she noted that while the government was able to avert any threat to food security, there has been an "unhappy pressure" on the prices of food grains and products.
At the same time, Patil said they were also a sort of reflection of the growing purchasing power in the countryside.
"They are also to some extent a reflection of the implementation of our schemes of inclusive growth involving payment of higher procurement prices to our farmers and the impact of higher public spending on programmes of rural development, which have successfully raised incomes in rural areas," the President said.
Patil expressed confidence that the government will aim at a growth rate of 8 per cent in the coming fiscal and 9 per cent in the next.
Declaring that the common man is at the core of government's promise of faster growth, she said that highest importance was being given to ensuring relief to the common man on food prices.
Attributing rising food prices to shortfall in domestic production and high prices of rice, cereals and edible oils in the international market, President said, "My government is committed to bringing forth a legislation to ensure food security."
The country's food inflation touched a decade's high of about 20 per cent in December before moderating to around 18 per cent in February.
As regards the economy, the growth in the current fiscal was likely to be 7.5 per cent against 6.7 per cent a year ago she said on the opening day of the Budget session.
