Opposition ruled state governments in India are holding the federal government largely responsible for spiraling food prices.

In a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with the chiefs of Indian various states to discuss measures to check inflation.

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, chief of India's northern Uttarakhand, called for the federal government to take more serious measures to curb rising food prices.

[Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Chief, Uttarakhand State]:

"I made an appeal to the Prime Minister to tackle more seriously the price rise issue. Instead of blaming the state governments, the issue of price rise is the federal government's responsibility. Whatever the federal government instructs the state government to do, we will not step back. We said that all the state governments would stand by your decision."

Chief of India's eastern Orissa state Naveen Patnaik says inflation is a “macro problem.”

[Naveen Patnaik, Chief, Orissa State]:

"This is a macro problem, so it has to be dealt with very firmly and efficiently by the central (federal) government.

Q: Sir, the federal government has blamed the state government and said that they (state governments) are not taking effective measures to check price rise?

A:  We are doing everything we can to check the prices but the federal government is largely responsible."

Singh asked state governments to ensure that the food articles released by the Center quickly reach the intended beneficiaries.

He also asked the state governments to focus their attention on developing market intervention mechanisms that would act as a supplement to the Public Distribution System.

The wholesale price index rose 7.3 percent in December from a year earlier, accelerated from a 4.8 percent gain in November.

The meeting also reviewed the implementation of the essential commodities act to check hoarding of food items.