Monsoon Session: Opposition to focus on high inflation

The Opposition will focus on the prevailing high inflation in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament and press for a full discussion on the matter in both the Houses.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, former Finance Minister and Congress MP P Chidambaram said the “The Congress party condemns the callous negligence of the government on the issue of price rise,” he said.

The Congress has also decided to hold press conferences in each State Capital to highlight the issue.

Chidambaram said the consumer price inflation has breached the upper limit of six per cent and is now, according to the NSO, 6.26 per cent. “Urban CPI has spurted from 5.91 per cent in May to 6.37 per cent in June. Core inflation has moved up in a month from 5.5 per cent to 5.8 per cent. Food inflation is at 5.58 per cent. Pulses inflation is at 10.01 per cent. Fruits inflation is at 11.82 per cent. Transport inflation is at 11.56 per cent. Fuel and Light inflation is at 12.68 per cent. And Oils & Fats inflation is at 34.78 per cent,” Chidambaram said.

‘Centre responsible’

He asked the Centre to tell people what they should eat, how they should light their homes and how they should go to work. He added that inflation, even in a normal time, would be intolerable. “The present is not a normal time. A pandemic is raging across the country. The pandemic has resulted in jobs being axed, unemployment rising to 8.1 per cent and incomes/wages being cut for millions of working people. In such a situation of widespread distress, inflation has broken the back of the people, and we hold the central government under Shri Narendra Modi directly responsible for the high inflation,” he said.

He said inflation has not been caused by a spurt in demand. “On the contrary, private consumer demand is low. This inflation has not been caused by excess liquidity or too much money in the hands of the people. This inflation has been caused by the wrong policies of the government and its inept management of the economy,” he added.

He said despite stout opposition, the government has continually increased the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. “When crude oil price was $125, the UPA government was able to provide petrol at ₹65 a litre and diesel at ₹44 a litre. The sole reason for the exorbitant prices is the levy of cess by the government. Total cess levied by the central government on petrol and diesel are ₹33/litre and ₹32/litre, respectively. Through these cess alone the central government collects approximately ₹4.2-lakh crore every year and keeps all that money to itself. This is exploitation and greed of the worst kind,” he added.

He said ultimately, petroleum products must come under the GST, but, only if the GST council is really empowered and decisions are taken by consensus.

“Despite a downward trend in the value of the rupee, these increased duties remain. The result is higher prices on a large number of intermediary goods as well as essential goods such as palm oil, pulses and household items,” he charged.

“High GST rates have the tendency to push up the prices of the final goods and services,” he added.

“We demand that import duties be reviewed and re-set so that prices of essential imported goods are cheaper. We also demand that GST rates be reduced on an array of goods that are mass-consumed by the people. We are convinced that these steps alone will bring relief to the people from the crushing burden of high inflation,” he said added that his party will raise the issue of high inflation in the forthcoming session of Parliament and demand a full discussion on the subject as well as substantial relief for the people of India. ‘Let me caution the government: the issue of high inflation will not go away if you pretend it does not exist,” he added.

CPI(M)’s accusation

Expressing similar concerns, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury accused excise duty is being hiked to “help crony capitalists”.

“This is criminal. Excise duties hiked steeply for writing off loans taken by Modi’s cronies - ₹6.11-lakh crore (2014-20), and to finance huge corporate tax cuts — ₹1.45-lakh crore in 2019-20. Looting people to benefit cronies and encashing political funding,” he claimed.

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