A day after the UPA government set up a task force to suggest ways to provide cooking gas,kerosene and fertiliser subsidies to intended beneficiaries,Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday advocated the same suggesting direct cash transfer to the beneficiaries. His suggestion came at Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjees pre-Budget consultation with Congress office-bearers at the party headquarters here. Whether in terms of fertiliser subsidy to farmers or kerosene or LPG to BPL families,the current regime should be dismantled and the government should take steps to facilitate direct cash transfer to the beneficiaries, Chavan told The Indian Express after the meeting. Shamsher Singh Surjewala,chairman of the AICCs Kisan and Khet Mazdoor cell,stated at the meeting later that subsidy was not reaching the farmers. Hanumantha Rao said large tracts of agricultural land were being diverted for real estate and other uses and added that if they are not used for the specific purposes within two-three years,they should be converted back to agricultural land. While AICC media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi claimed after the two-hour long consultation process that inflation and corruption figured prominently during the discussion,sources said no Congress leader,except Chavan,raised the issue. The sources said party leaders chose not to rake up the issue of inflation as Mukherjee had clarified in his opening remarks that food inflation soared on account of nine items like vegetables,meat and eggs whereas the prices of cereals were contained. Chavan to seek MLC seat Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said that he would become a member of the Legislative Council,instead of contesting a bypoll for a seat in the Legislative Assembly. His statement rules out the possibility of the Congress asking him to contest an Assembly bypoll,which has the risk of his being defeated in the wake of a season of scams. The party has opted for the safer option of nominating him to the council.
