New Delhi, Sep 24 - The government must immediately ban futures trading in all essential commodities to control the 'relentless rise' in their prices, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has demanded.

'This UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government has completely failed in controlling this price rise,' noted the CPI-M mouthpiece 'People's Democracy'.

It said the 'relentless rise in the prices of all essential commodities' has 'heavily dampened the festive spirit' in the country.

'One of the reasons of this galloping price rise has been the sharp rise in the volumes of trading in the speculative commodity markets in the country.'

The journal pointed out that a ban on forward trading in a few commodities like rice, wheat, urad and tur dals in January 2007 'led to a 20 percent fall in the prices of these two dals, clearly establishing the link between speculative trading and rise in prices'.

'It is imperative that the UPA government immediately ban futures trading in all essential commodities,' it said and called for strengthening and enlarging the public distribution system.