'This govt isn't insensitive'

The Lok Sabha adopted a motion on Wednesday urging the government to take "effective" steps to contain the adverse impact of inflation on the common man.

The Lok Sabha adopted a motion on Wednesday urging the government to take "effective" steps to contain the adverse impact of inflation on the common man.

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The motion was adopted after a marathon debate that ended with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee explaining the reasons for inflation, rejecting the Opposition charge of being insensitive to the plight of the people and insisting that the states too had an important role in curbing prices.

"This House takes a considered view of inflation and urges the government to take further effective action to contain its (inflation) impact on common man," Meira Kumar, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, said.

The motion was a compromise after a weeklong deadlock over the mode of debate, as Opposition parties demanded voting, which was opposed by the government.

Mukherjee's reply to the discussion wasn't expected to satisfy the Opposition. And it didn't.

Before the resolution was adopted, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj questioned Mukherjee's argument linking inflationary pressures to, among other factors, the higher growth rate.

"The government is not only insensitive, it is in a dilemma," said Swaraj, insisting that the government should not view inflation through the prism of an economist such as a Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Swaraj said the problem arose because while the rich benefited from the growth rate, the poor were suffering due to the resultant price rise.

In his hour-long reply, Mukherjee made a strong plea to parties for support for the government's move to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) replacing a layer of state and central taxes and duties.

This would ease the situation as far as petroleum products were concerned, he said.

"If the government was not sensitive it would not have gone for Right to Education as also jobs for the rural poor and entitlement of food grains through a legal enactment. All these are indications of the sensitivities of the government towards people," Mukherjee said, rejecting Swaraj's charge.

"As a village boy I have studied up to class X under a kerosene lamp. I used to walk 10 km everyday. So I know the life of a villager. Don't ridicule my sensitivity," Mukherjee, who was born in Bengal's Mirati village.