AGRICULTURE, food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday frustrated attempts by the Congress Left-combine to put the blame for the current bout of inflation on opposition-ruled states. Quoting figures compiled by the food ministry, Mr Pawar told the Lok Sabha during his reply to the discussion on price-rise that, in compliance of the powers conferred upon them by the Essential Commodities Act, five states had performed creditably in conducting raids on hoarders to ensure an uninterrupted supply of grain. And, interestingly, none of the Congress-ruled states figured in this list of high performers. The list included three NDA-ruled states (Punjab, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), one Left Front-governed state (Kerala) and Uttar Pradesh, which has Ms Mayawati at the helm. The tone and tenor of Mr Pawar's speeches in the two Houses was in sharp contrast to attempts by sections of the government to deflect the blame for the current crisis on the previous regime. The NCP leader's 'abovethe-fray' statement, in fact, appealed to all, as it was seen as being bereft of any partisan politics. The food and agriculture minister, in keeping with this spirit, sought to encourage states to lift procurement of grains. In states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat, wheat procurement, Mr Pawar told the Rajya Sabha this afternoon, was far below expectation last year. He was satisfied with the efforts being made by these states to improve procurement this year. The NCP leader's observations knocked the bottom off the Congress-Left combine's charge that the opposition-ruled states were found looking the other way as traders proceeded to stock grain over and above the ceiling imposed on them by ECA in an attempt to increase profit-levels. Under ECA, the power to impose stock-limits of various kinds of various grain has always been vested with states. This power, however, was kept in abeyance by the NDA regime in 2002, when it issued the Removal (Licensing requirements, Stock-limits and Movement) Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs order. The Manmohan Singh government, after it came to power, revoked the previous dispensation's decision. Notwithstanding this, only 13 states and union territories had so far issued orders on slapping stocklimits, the food minister pointed out. These include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Dadra, Nagar, Haveli. On the other hand, as many as 11 states and Uts had refused to place stock-limits. In his intervention on the discussion on price-rise in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, finance minister P Chidambaram joined the chorus of voices pitting the blame for the present crisis on the NDA's decision to facilitate free trade in grain. He very conveniently skipped the fact the present regime had enthusiastically pursued the same policy till the other day. His contention was echoed in the Rajya Sabha by CPM member Sitaram Yechury. But the two leaders deliberately omitted all references to the policy being pursued by the UPA government as it would have nullified their own arguments. A case in the point is the letter written by Mr Pawar to the chief ministers of various states on January 9, 2006. ''I'd like to mention in this connection that in conformity with the government's policy towards liberalisation, my ministry is committed to the development of agriculture and trade by removing unnecessary controls and restrictions to achieve a single Indian common market across the country for both manufactured and agricultural produce and to encourage linkage between agriculture and industry,'' he had then said. Govt unwilling to ban futures trading New Delhi: Unwilling to commit to a definite view on the fate of forward trading in essential commodities, food minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha that "there are a lot of conflicting views'. Mr Pawar's vacillation comes in the wake of indication that the Abhijit Sen Committee is likely to take a safe view that a given available data, there appears to be no corelation between futures trading and increase in essential commodity prices. Given the demand from Congress, its allies and the Opposition, the food minister assured Rajya Sabha that the government would address the concerns raised about forward trading in essential commodities. Mr Pawar said that although trading in urad, tur and rice was already banned, there was no impact on the retail price of urad and tur. In the case of rice, though the ban did stabilise prices. In 2007, under pressure from its allies, the government had banned futures trading in wheat, rice, urad and tur. On Wednesday, Mr Pawar said that the government would take a decision in 10 days. He has also given the Abhijit Sen committee 10 days to submit its report. "We will give the panel 10 days to submit the report. If it does not, we will talk to the Forward Market Commis-sion and take a decision on (banning futures trading in other) essential commodities,' Mr Pawar said. As part of Budget 2007, the government announced setting up of the Abhijit Sen Committee to study the extent of impact, if any, of futures trading on wholesale and retail prices of agricultural commodities. The committee, which was notified on March 2, was asked to submit its report by May 2007. The committee is currently on an extension. The 10-day deadline for the committee was announced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, in response to demand from UPA allies and the Opposition to bar future trading on some essential commodities especially grain. On Thursday, the agriculture minister merely reiterated this in the Rajya Sabha.