New Delhi: CPI(M) today described government steps to deal with the impact of global meltdown as "disappointing" and demanded a moratorium on job and salary cuts, while also pitching for reduction in prices of petrol and diesel to increase the purchasing power of people.

"The government should announce a moratorium on job or wage cuts in the organised sector, in the interest of the national economy, since such cuts would further depress the demand and aggravate the situation," CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here while releasing a 10-point charter of demands to deal with the impact of the global crisis.

The response of the UPA government to neutralise the adverse impact on the global financial crisis on India was "extremely disappointing", he said, pointing out the measures adopted reflect "sheer lack of comprehension" of the causes behind the current crisis.

Commenting on the steps taken by the Reserve Bank to infuse liquidity through cut in policy rates, Yechury said the steps would not help unless efforts were made to increase the purchasing power of the people.

The crisis in the US, he added, was not on account of lenders but it was because the borrowers failed to repay their loans, thereby leading to problems in the financial sector.

The 10-point charter of demands to deal with the impact of global financial crisis also includes increasing public expenditure, banning Participatory Notes (PNs), abandoning the move to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the private insurance companies to 49 per cent and increasing customs duties to protect the domestic industry.
Source : PTI