New Delhi, Aug 02, 2022, By Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug 2: The Opposition on Tuesday sought to corner the government in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of price rise, but the BJP deflected the attack blaming inflation on global developments beyond the control of any country.
Participating in a short-duration discussion on rising prices of essential items, the opposition appealed to the government to acknowledge the problem of rising inflation affecting the poor in India in order to fix it.
Initiating the debate, CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem said there has been a constant increase in prices of essential commodities in the last eight years of Modi government.
Despite record foodgrains, it is tragic testimony that farmers are fighting to get better prices and consumers are weighed down by high prices, he said, adding that the government should have distributed the surplus stock to the poor through the public distribution system (PDS).
The government should tax the rich not the poor, he said and added there was no unanimous decision in the GST Council on this issue.
TMC leader Derek O'Brien said rising prices of essential commodities coupled with imposition of GST on pre-packed food items, which was not agreed by Opposition in the GST Council, and unemployment is affecting the poor badly. On top of it, rupee appreciation has put pressure on the economy, he said.
"We appeal to the government as a constructive Opposition, first, you have to acknowledge the problem. If you do not acknowledge the problem, how will you fix the problem?" he said.
"About 29 per cent of youth are jobless in India. Subsidy on cooking gas has come down, but not the retail prices," he said and sought the finance minister to respond to these issues.
In a similar refrain, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said, "People are fed up. In a democracy, the government should listen to the Opposition. But today it is not so."
Prices of vegetables to fuel have risen sharply and people are committing suicide due to unemployment, he added.
BJP leader Prakash Javadekar, however, said price rise hurts everyone and the Narendra Modi-led central government is constantly working to check it.
The inflation is ruling at 7 per cent now and not yet reached the double-digit level like in the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, he said.
Javadekar said due to coronavirus and Russia-Ukraine crisis, the supply chain was hit, pushing up the fuel and food prices globally.
"This is beyond the control of any country. Not only India, prices have risen in other countries too," he said.
However, the burden of high fuel prices on common man could have been reduced had the non-BJP states cut the value added tax (VAT), he said, adding that the Centre had reduced the taxes on petrol and diesel twice and it was followed by BJP-ruled states.
On concerns over rupee depreciation, Javadekar said the Indian rupee has appreciated in comparison with other currencies.
He further said the International Monetary Fund in its report has said India at 6.8 per cent growth rate is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. There is no talk about recession in India like in the United States, he said.