The Indian government has set up a special group to monitor inflation situation in the country due to great concerns over increasing prices of essential commodities, according to the New Delhi TV Thursday afternoon.

In a letter to Chief Ministers of all states in the country, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that a special cell of the Cabinet Secretariat of the government has been established to keep a daily watch on the price situation and provide support to state governments,

Prime Minister Singh said the state governments could play an important role in checking the rise in the prices of essential commodities through administrative and regulatory measures and he asked state chief ministers to strike hard on speculators and hoarders.

"You may like to put in place an appropriate mechanism for regular intensive monitoring of the prices of commodities in order to promptly detect any short-term fluctuations and take necessary corrective action," the prime minister said in the letter.

Source: Xinhua