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Price rise, GST hike among Opposition’s key attack points during LS debate
Opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha on Monday hit out at the Centre over inflation, alleging that the policies and ‘economic mismanagement’ of the government have burdened the common people.
Opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha on Monday hit out at the Centre over inflation, alleging that the policies and “economic mismanagement” of the Narendra Modi-led government have burdened the common people of the country.
Initiating the discussion, Congress MP Manish Tewari said that the Central government’s “economic mismanagement” for the last eight years was responsible for the present situation.
“The country has had double-digit inflation for the last 14 months, it is the highest in 30 years… the consumer food price index is skyrocketing. GST has been increased on items of daily use like rice, curd, paneer, pencils and sharpeners… The government is not sparing even children,” he said, adding, that he was “hurt” by the 18% GST levied on crematoriums as well, an allegation later denied by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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Blaming the Centre for destroying the “five pillars” of the economy, “savings, investment, production, consumption, and employment”, by implementing policies like demonetisation, Tewari said, “After the note ban, the government brought in GST implementation, which hit at least 2.30 lakh small industries. This note ban and GST not just impacted medium and small scale industries, but employment also.”
Pointing out that the Congress-led UPA regime pulled 27 crore people above the poverty line, he argued that reports suggest as many as 23 crore people are once again below poverty line. “The number of billionaires in India rose from 100 to 142 during this time, but the income of those in the lowest strata has been falling steadily,” the Congress leader said.
Tiwari also criticised the government for the increase in fuel prices claiming that it had collected ₹27 lakh crore through “tax, excise duty, and dividend” in the petroleum sector.
“The surprising thing is that the government kept filling its treasury, but has not distributed the advantages to the general public,” he added.
Adding to the drama of the debate, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar produced a raw brinjal in the House and took a bite out of it to quip, “Am I expected to eat this raw vegetable? I am talking about eating raw vegetables because the price of LPG cylinders has risen four times in four months. Does the government want people to acquire a habit of eating uncooked food?”
Ghosh said that lakhs of LPG cylinders distributed under Centre’s Ujjwala Yojana are lying empty because people are not able to afford refills.
DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, in her address, mentioned six-year-old Kirti Dubey from Uttar Pradesh who has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over price rise.
Indian Union Muslim League leader ET Mohammed Basheer said that family budgets are collapsing in the country and kitchens will soon “see a lockdown” if the Centre doesn’t acknowledge the economic challenges faced by the common people.
“Kitchen is in turmoil. We had a lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic period. I apprehend, now we will have a lockdown in kitchens because of this government’s negative stance,” he said.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule said that an increase in GST on essential food items has burdened the poor people. She accused the government of making a U-turn on its own policies.
“On one day, you say that you have enough reserves. When two rupees extra are going into the kitty of the farmer, why did you stop it? I want to ask this government: will you give me a white paper on doubling farmers’ income?” she asked.
Defending the government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey said that the Opposition should rise above “modi phobia” and cited the turmoil in neighbouring nations.
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“If we see Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Singapore, everywhere, inflation is rising and jobs are getting lost. Amid such a situation, if the poor are getting two meals a day free of cost, then shouldn’t we thank our Prime Minister?” he said.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Pinaki Misra said the price of petrol has increased 39 times in 2021-22 and 76 times in 2020-21. “Every morning, you went there (petrol pumps), it was 50 paise or 75 paise or ₹1 up. These young boys today, who work as courier boys or delivery boys, for them, it is their lifeline. They cannot do anything without those motorcycles. Everyday, they go back with less money in their pockets because you continue to raise fuel prices rampantly, because you have no other way of garnering your revenue,” he said.
“Therefore, Madam finance minister, I urge you once again. Please do not heed the advice of bureaucrats who are giving you, with great respect, lazy advice for your revenue generation,” he added.
Meanwhile, several other Opposition MPs, including AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s Sangeeta Azad, also slammed the government over price rise and alleged that the increase in GST has added to the hardships of the common man.
