Jangareddygudem, July 16^th: The Communist Party of India (CPI) demanded setting up a national oil pool by the Center to overcome the crisis due to fluctuations in the prices of crude oil in the international market. The CPI state executive committee member, Mr. Dega Prabhakar, said on Thursday that the prices of petrol and diesel were high when a barrel of crude oil in the international market was costing 70 US dollars when compared with 140 US dollars earlier. He said earlier the centre had set up a national oil pool at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore with the main aim to overcome the losses in the country when the cost of the crude oil had gone up in the international market.

Referring to the Congress rule in the state, he was critical against the exorbitant prices of rice, dals, oils and even vegetables. The congress government was supplying rice at Rs 2 per kg to the BPL families, it was also allowing the rice to be sold at Rs 40 per kg in the open market, he alleged. Mr. Prabhakar demanded that the government should take measures to ensure adequate supplies of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to the farmers. He alleged graft in implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.