On the eve of the Budget session of Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the chief ministers of states and heads of Union territories to take effective steps to curb rising prices. Copies of this letter were given to mediapersons by the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday evening.

"Over the past one year, the prime minister has kept a close track of the steps taken to keep prices under control. The Cabinet Committee on prices has met on several occassions and taken steps to ease the domestic supply constraints. The government also reduced energy prices and import duties. The Reserve Bank has taken necessary actions to ease the demand side pressure on prices," a press handout issued by the PMO claimed.

While explaining the steps taken by the government of India to check rising prices, Dr Singh reminded the state governments of their responsibility of keeping prices under control.

"The prime minister has advised the state governments to put in place an appropriate mechanism for regular intensive monitoring of commodity prices in order to take prompt and necessary action to curb price rise," the handout said.