The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee says food inflation is coming down and it is at 17.7 per cent. He asserted that it will come down with a bright prospect of Rabi season. Finance Minister exhorted that the economy is growth path and now is the time for the exit of the stimulus packages given for the recovery of economy. Three packages were given by the government to stimulate growth in the wake of global economic financial crisis. Introducing the Finance Bill for the current fiscal, Mr. Mukherjee said that the core group of Chief Ministers set up by the government to tone up public distribution system will focus on poor and vulnerable sections of population who are worst hit by the rising prices. He said that there is enough food stock available in the country and MSP of food grains will not be increased for now. He gave the details of the measures taken by the government to bridge the gap of demand and supply of food grains. This includes zero duty on import of rice, wheat and pulses. He urged the state government to come forward for implementation of uniform goods and services tax in the country. The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that prices of essential commodities have started softening and food inflation will decline in the coming months. He said that indications of softening food inflation are clearly visible and they expected to decline in the coming months uninterruptedly. In his opening remarks after introducing the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha today the Finance Minister said that food inflation has declined from over 20 per cent in December, 2009, to 17.7 per cent in March, 2010.Recalling steps taken by the government to deal with general inflation which risen to 9.9 per cent in March, Mr Mukherjee said the government is committed to continue with the fiscal consolidation programme and gradually reduce the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent in the next fiscal and 4.1 per cent in 2012-13.Participating in the debate, Mr. Harin Pathak of the BJP alleged that government has failed on controlling inflation which has badly affected the common man. He urged the government to take all possible measures to tame this inflationary trend. Initiating the debate Haren Pathak of the BJP alleged the policies of the government were against the common man and farmers. He said the Government was introducing a tax structure that was favourable only to the rich. He demanded that more concessions should be given to the salaried middle class and lower middle class. Participating in the discussion Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress on the other hand praised the government saying that when the entire world was battling the global recession last year, the Centre did not allow the economic structure of the country to crumble and took measures whose positive effects were shown on the economy of the country. He claimed that the Budget has made the common man its focus and allotted substantial funds on the education and health sectors.He admitted that prices of essentials were soaring in the country but informed that the government was doing its best to contain them though some factors which were beyond control were creating roadblocks in doing so. The debate also witness heated exchanges on the issue of number of people living below poverty line. The CPI-M, said though the budget talked about the common man, it made little efforts to better their lot. The discussion on the finance bill continues tomorrow.