THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A delegation of Members of Parliament (MPs) from Kerala will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to apprise them of the State's concern over the proposed bifurcation of the Palakkad Railway Division.

Minister in charge of Railways M. Vijayakumar will lead the delegation.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of MPs from the State held here on Saturday with Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan in the chair. Most of the MPs, including those from the Congress, were present at the meeting, which was also attended by several members of the State Cabinet and senior officials.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Mr. Achuthanandan said he would also take up the issue with the Prime Minister. The dates of the visit would be decided soon. Besides this, the MPs would raise the issue in Parliament.

They would also raise the sharp increase in prices of essential commodities in Parliament to force the Union Government to take appropriate measures to check the price rise. The price increase in Kerala was partly due to the cut in the State's quota of rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene by the Centre, but figures of the Reserve Bank of India showed that the situation in the State was not as grave as in States such as Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, he said.

The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) would take all steps possible to check the price rise, including direct procurement of commodities from production centres and their distribution through Maveli stores.

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