The parliamentary body in a sharp contradiction to its last year's observation said that the commerce ministry is not solely responsible for the price hike.

It asked the commerce ministry to prepare a report after gathering information from the neighbouring countries on their price control measures.

The report will be submitted to the prime minister, the meeting decided.

Interestingly, the same parliamentary body a year ago blasted former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury for his "failure" to control the prices of essentials.

When Altaf Hossain Choudhury replaced Khasru as the commerce minister, the ministry shifted its position although the commodity prices continued to spiral.

The parliamentary body had also formed a subcommittee to identify the causes of price hike but it put the blame on the media for exaggerating the prices.

Members of the parliamentary body at yesterday's meeting observed that a number of ministries including finance, home, agriculture and communications are also related to the commodity market and the prices of essentials.

"We should identify other authorities who are also responsible for checking the prices of essentials. We should not put the blame on the commerce ministry alone," sources said quoting Committee Chairman Redwan Ahmed as saying at the meeting.