New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said it wanted the Parliament to function and was ready to debate the price rise if the issue was taken up first on Friday. “It is our demand. We have been protesting in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue asking for a debate on the price rise issue, which affects millions of people, for the past three days,” leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary told ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament started on July 18 but the two Houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have not been able to function smoothly as there was no meeting ground between the government and the opposition parties.
The government blamed the opposition for not letting the Parliament function and running away from debate while the opposition said the Centre was not ready to take up pressing issues like price rise, GST, and the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme first. The Congress leader refuted the charge.
“This is not true. The government is misleading the people on the issue. We want Parliament to function and take up the relevant issues and bills. Our only concern is that the price rise debate should be taken up on priority,” said Chaudhary.
“To date, the government has not taken up the price rise issue. Before deciding on House business, there is a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, where the list of items to be taken up is discussed and finalized between the government and opposition leaders. The government is dilly-dallying on all issues, not only price rise,” he said.
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“The government even said it was ready for a debate on Agnipath during the all-party meeting but there has been nothing so far from their side on taking it up,” said Chaudhary, adding, “This is like total discrimination.”
According to the Congress leader, the opposition parties were simply bringing the voices of the people to the Parliament. “Our MPs come from the remotest parts of the country. We do not come to the parliament for a picnic. We want to raise people’s issues. It is our duty to do so,” said Chaudhary.
The Congress leader further said that the opposition had been demanding a structured debate on the price rise issue but no such discussion has been allowed by the government during the entire duration of the 17th Lok Sabha so far.
“For the entire 17th Lok Sabha, the price rise issue has not been discussed separately. We are demanding a structured debate but it has not been granted so far. In turn, the government keeps leveling allegations at the opposition and issues sermons to us,” he said.
Detailing his concerns over the price rise issue, Chaudhary further said that retail inflation was recorded at 7.01 percent in June this year 2022 as per the latest Consumer Price Index data. The data, he said, paints an alarming picture. “Rural Inflation is even higher at 7.09 percent. Combined with the rural employment rate of 8.03 percent in June 2022, it is a highly worrying statistic for a country where 70 percent of the population resides in the villages.”
According to the Congress leader, retail inflation has been above RBI’s medium-term target of 4 percent for the past 33 months while the tolerance band set by the central bank for retail inflation was 2 to 6 percent. “What is worse is that RBI’s projection for retail inflation for the next quarter from July 2022 to September 2022 is 7.4 percent. Food inflation at 7.75 percent, particularly, is killing the lower- and middle-income groups. Inflation recorded in vegetables in June 2022 was 17.37 percent,” said Chaudhary.
The Congress MP said that as many as 25 lakh salaried people had lost their jobs in June 2022 and start-ups had fired more than 11,000 employees in this year.
“The Rupee is at an all-time low of 79.66 against the US Dollar and the GDP growth is stagnant. This portrays a sorry state of macroeconomic affairs. At such a time, a draconian decision like imposing 5 percent GST was taken recently on pre-packed and pre-labeled grains, fish, paneer, lassi, honey, jaggery, wheat flour, buttermilk, meat/fish and puffed rice,” he said.
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Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh also said that the opposition was ready to take part in a debate if the price rise and the recent imposition of GST on some food items were taken up first on Friday morning. “We also want to run the Parliament. If the government is ready to debate price rise and imposition of GST on some food items first on Friday morning, the opposition is ready to join the discussion,” said Ramesh.
“Let the issue be taken up in the Rajya Sabha. Rule 267 allows for a suspension of all other business to take up an urgent issue of public concern,” he said. After this, the other issues flagged by the opposition and the government can be taken up during the course of the session, said the Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha.
