The Government has partly blamed high cost of intermediation for the spiralling food prices. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, role of middlemen is very high from farm gate to the wholesale markets and from wholesale markets to retail markets. He was addressing an event organised by CII in the capital on Wednesday evening. Mr Mukherji said, one of terms of reference of the Prime Minister-appointed core committee is to address this issue. As food inflation hovers around 17 per cent, he said, a series of activities to increase productivity, conservation, storage, post-harvesting and pre-harvesting technologies will take place soon and more measures will be taken. In the Budget speech, Mr Mukherjee said, the Government is acutely conscious of high food prices and has set in motion steps in consultation with the Chief Ministers, which should bring down inflation in the next few months and ensure that there is better management of food security.Supporting the Bill, CPM leader Gurudas Dasgupta said that the party's stand on the bill remains the same. A delegation of Women Congress MPs from both Houses have thanked Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi for the decision to take the Women Reservation Bill for discussion on 8th of this month. The delegation, lead by Chairperson of Committee for Empowerment of Women Ms Chandresh Kumari, met Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Parliament House today to convey their feelings for taking this major step. The bill provides 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies