In Rajya Sabha, row stalls House business

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien’s repeated pleas to restore normalcy in the House had no impact and he had to adjourn proceedings twice till noon

P J Kurien, Rajya Sabha, Rajya Sabha Privilege Committee, Samajwadi Party, indian express news, india news

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI Photo/TV GRAB

THE Opposition parties on Tuesday joined ranks to protest against the government’s decision to hike the prices of domestic cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 4 per cylinder every month to eliminate all subsidies by next March. After TMC’s Derek O’ Brien raised the issue, members from the Congress, SP, TMC, BSP and Left MPs stormed into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking withdrawal of the decision.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien’s repeated pleas to restore normalcy in the House had no impact and he had to adjourn proceedings twice till noon. O’ Brien said the government was not fulfilling its social commitment to provide cooking gas at subsidised rates. Oil prices have come down from USD 111 per barrel to USD 48 but the government was still raising rates of cooking fuel, he said.

This was a day after Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the government doubled the monthly increase in LPG price to Rs 4 per cylinder from July 1 with a view to eliminate all subsidies by March 2018.

Sitaram Yechury (CPM) reminded the House that at the call of Prime Minister Modi, people had voluntarily given up subsidies so that LPG could be provided to the poor and needy. Ruing that the government has now decided to charge Rs 4 more per cylinder, Yechury demanded that the decision be withdrawn. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the people had voluntarily given up their subsidies in the hope that subsidised cooking gas will be given to the poor but the government is “killing the poor”.

Clarifying the decision, Pradhan said the move flowed from a June 2010 decision under the previous UPA government to raise prices every month in small quantum to completely eliminate subsidies. He read out from a document that listed the decision and those who endorsed it then.

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