In a statement on Wednesday, Thakorebhai Shah and Ramkailash Saroj, human right activists have said that first meeting of the body would be held at Sardar Bhavan on Saturday at 5 pm. They said they had invited people from different walks of life to attend the meeting.

Alleging that the price rise of essential commodities was neither natural nor temporary, they said thought the Consumer Affairs Department had informed the government about the shortage in June itself, the Commerce department exported 45,000 tonnes onions, and the same stock was now being imported at higher prices.

Trupti Shah and Dr Maya Valecha, women's right activists and members of the andolan, said the recent fall in prices of some essential commodities was just an eye-wash as ``it was the government's plan to first raise the prices and then lower it to some extent''.

Alleging that ever since the BJP assumed power in March, prices had gone through the roof, they observed that people's problems would not be solved if two rival parties keep blaming each other for the price rise.

Social workers Bhupesh Shah and Sudhir Biniwale have demanded that the government make public the status of groundnut crop and the current stock of food-grains in various godowns. They have also demanded better quality of grains, edible oil and sugar from fair price shops.

Reiterating that unless people unite, the concerned authorities could not be compelled to bring down the prices, they pointed out that the prices of vegetables, edible oil, and other essential commodities were never so high in the past few years.