The Government on Wednesday assured the lok Sabha that there was no ground for “panic” on price rise as it was taking a host of measures, including strong punitive action against hoarders, to check the prices of essential commodities.
The debate on the price rise in the House brought the Modi government under attack with the Opposition wanting it to establish cold storages, correct regulatory policies and take action against hoarders to check the spiraling vegetable and food prices.The discussion under a rule (193) that does not entail voting was taken up after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected the Opposition notices on an adjournment motion on the issue and said she was ready to have a general discussion.
Replying to the debate, Union Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan said concern over price rise was “natural” and maintained that from the day one the new Government has taken action that included summoning a meeting of Food Ministers to discuss ways to facilitate inter-state movement of food grains and selling of farmers’ produce. “There is no need for panic”, he hastened to add.
Paswan said increase in prices is a phenomenon that lasts from June to October and, if the country has enough cold storages to preserve food grains and release them into the market, prices would automatically come down
The Minister said shortage of sugar was artificially created by the hoarders and the government would take strong action against them. “There is no shortage of sugar”, he said, adding that his government had conducted raids against hoarders in Delhi.Hitting back at the previous Congress-led Government, Paswan said the UPA decided to increase railway fare and then went back on it the same day.Responding to an array of Opposition criticism, Paswan said the intention of political leaders should be good, to work out solutions to all issues. “Netaoin ki neeyat main kami hain,” he said.
When the Opposition, particularly the Congress, attacked the Government on the hike in railway fare and freight charges, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda intervened, saying, “I will deal with it separately” but went on to add that while UPA dispensation “did not have guts” to implement fare hike decisions. “We have the guts” to do so. Earlier, Opposition members took a dig at the BJP, wondering where the “achche din” (good days), promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have gone. Initiating a discussion in the House , Congress leader Amarinder Singh also demanded a complete ban on onion export to control its soaring prices.
He asked “where is the achche din” promised by the BJP during the election campaign and slammed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that food prices are under control and there is no need to panic.Singh said the farmers who produce vegetables including potatoes, onion and tomatoes were selling their produce at low price and hoarders and middlemen were responsible for the shooting prices of such essential commodities.
“There has been a 250 per cent increase in the prices of onion, tomatoes and potatoes. Have you taken any step against middlemenIJ ...Tackle hoarding to control prices in the short run. I hope the government will take action against hoarders,” he said.CPI(M) member P Karunakaran criticised the Congress for raising the issue of price rise, saying its Government did not take any “concrete” action to control inflation during its 10-year rule.
“Why did not you take steps in 10 years. You were not ready to take any concrete step to control price rise. You were not ready to listen,” he told Congress members who were attacking the Narendra Modi Government over the issue.The MP from Kerala referred to the 6.5 per cent hike in freight rates, saying such steps have a cascading effect and finally lead to increase in the prices of essential commodities.
“I want to know whether you have political will to reduce excise duty, reduce VAT and change tax structure as promised during the last lok Sabha elections,” he said, a day ahead of the presentation of the General Budget.In a spirited defence of the Government, BJP’s young MP Anurag Thakur said the price rise being witnessed currently was a result of policies of the previous Congress-led Government.
He said prices of essential commodities were being kept under check by the Narendra Modi government in total contrast to Manmohan Singh Government when prices of food items rose manifold.Thakur said during the 10 years rule of the UPA, Parliament had discussed the issue of price rise 17 times, while during the six years rule of Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA, there was just one discussion on price rise.
Taking a dig at Amarinder Singh without mentioning his name, Thakur said it was heartening to hear “maharajas” talk about “daal, roti”. Singh is the erstwhile maharaja of Patiala in Punjab.Making a definitive note, Biju Janata Dal’s B Mehtab said the monitory policy of the RBI that focused on cutting down the repo rate was central to food inflation. He asked the Government to empower the State Governments through essential commodities Act
Mehtab appreciated “the speed” at which the Government acted on the price rise but cautioned that “its tools are not right”. He said to bring down prices the Government should remove all restrictions on the movements of farmers’ goods. Besides, he suggested setting up price monitoring cells in all the states and creating cold storages.
Supriya Sule of the NCP said price rise alone was not the heritage of the UPA Government and referred to Katra rail-link, Naval warship Vikramaditya and other “achievements” of the previous dispensation.Dharmendra Yadav of the BJP wondered what happened to “achche din” saying, “Modiji aye hain mehgayi laye hain..” He said the BJP leaders well knew the economic situation during the last days of the UPA and asked, “why did you make such tall promises and told lies..”.