Agencies
New Delhi, Apr 15:
The issue of price rise rocked Parliament today, with the Lok Sabha being adjourned for the day soon after it assembled on the opening day of second part of the Budget session while the Rajya Sabha too saw protests by the opposition and Left members.
It was trouble from the word go in the Lok Sabha on the issue, while in the Rajya Sabha protests erupted after the new members were sworn in.
All hell broke loose in the lower house, as soon as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh introduced his new ministers and Speaker Somnath Chatterjee made obituary references to two former members.
Several members of the Samajwadi Party and few of the BJP stormed the well protesting against the spiralling food and fuel prices. The chanted slogans like "Joh sarkar nikaami hai, woh sarkar badalni hai (we have to change the incompetent government)".
Members from the BJP as also its allies in the NDA and from the Left were up on their feet to protest over price rise.
As the members were unrelenting and continued to raise slogans, a visibly angry Speaker asked the Lok Sabha officials to note down the names of erring members.
"Those who are raising slogans will be dealt with properly. I am not going to permit any such thing," Chatterjee said before adjourning the House till 11:30 a.M.
It was a similar story in the Upper House where opposition members raised slogans and Left members were also on their feet.
"Price rise is the only question today," senior BJP member Murli Manohar Joshi said as soon as Chairman Hamid Ansari announced the start of the Question Hour. Amid the din, he adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
CCP meet put off
Amid sharp differences between ministries of Commerce and Finance over measures to control spiralling steel prices, the government today postponed the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP).
The CCP was scheduled to meet today to delve on measures including imposing an export duty and lowering excise on steel to check prices.
According to sources, the meeting has been postponed as the Finance Ministry is not in favour of reducing excise duty on steel fearing loss of revenue.
The Finance Ministry, sources said, is of the view that duty alone will not be able to check rising prices of steel as domestic prices are largely influenced by the international prices.
There was a proposal from the steel makers to ban export of iron ores to ensure cheaper raw material for domestic production and future expansion.
While pressure is mounting from certain quarters for either increasing the export duty or banning the iron ore shipments, the commerce ministry is against any such move, sources said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had said last week that the iron ore variety, which is being exported, is not of use to domestic steelmakers and a ban would serve no purpose to contain inflation.
The iron ore prices have seen a sharp rise in the global market, leading to the revision of rate by the domestic miners.
The CCP was scheduled to meet in the backdrop of inflation rate touching a 40-month high of 7.41 per cent, much above the Reserve Bank's target of five per cent.
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