Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that the rate of inflation in wholesale prices is expected to come down to around six per cent by December this year. Addressing the 55th meeting of the National Development Council in New Delhi today, Singh said that the present high rate of inflation was mainly due to food prices, but with a normal monsoon the rate of inflation in food prices would abate in the second half of the year. Pointing out that agriculture performance, especially food production, was crucial for food security and would help tackling the problem of inflation, the Prime Minister urged the Chief Ministers to give agriculture the priority it deserves. Asserting that the security challenge posed by left wing extremism would be met with the full cooperation between the Centre and the States, Singh said that it must be supplemented by good governance and providing additional resources for development programmes in the affected areas. He said that this has asked the Planning Commission to design a hollistic development programme for these areas in consultation with States and other stake holders. The PM also emphasised that good governance alone gave the people a sense of participation and empowerment and in this context effective implementation of Forest Rights Act and the Panchayat Raj extention of scheduled areas act are critical.