Oppn criticises govt over rising inflation, high unemployment, rupee depreciation

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Monday criticised the government in the Lok Sabha over rising inflation, high unemployment and falling value of domestic currency.

Participating in the discussion on the supplementary demands for grants, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress said the government would need out-of-the-box solutions to deal with the economic woes of the country.

He said that the government is yet to come out with any step to arrest fall in the value of rupee and containing inflation, which is impacting lives of poor and middle-class people.

"Have we left it to the RBI alone to control inflation? Or the government has anything to say about inflation?" he asked.

He added that food and fuel inflation must be controlled.

Cut in jobs by big firms such as Twitter and Meta would have implications on the Indian IT industry as well, Roy remarked.

He asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to be more "charitable and fairer" towards West Bengal.

"We have huge pending dues from the central government...Rs 7,300 crore in NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and huge amounts in House for All (scheme)," he said.

"Let us forget old rivalries...Strong states mean a strong Centre," he added.

Congress member K Suresh too said the government is finding it difficult to achieve the disinvestment targets.

He said that different multi-lateral institutions and rating agencies have revised downwards their India's economic growth projections.

"Unemployment rate is high, particularly in the rural areas...There are no jobs in urban areas," Suresh said, adding, "We are not jealous, we are very much worried."

The government has failed to address these issues, he said, alleging it has also not extended any help to Kerala.

He added that in Kerala natural rubber and cashew industry is in crisis and the centre is not taking any step to help them.

P P Faizal of the NCP too said that demonetisation, GST and the pandemic have affected small and medium-sized enterprises.

Malook Nagar of the BSP said the government has not given any compensation to COVID-19-hit farmers.

He demanded the government increase sugarcane prices to Rs 500 per quintal.

The BJD's Sarmistha Sethi said that high unemployment, less private sector investment and high food inflation are affecting people.

Countering the charges of the opposition parties, Jayant Sinha of the BJP said India is the only shinning star in the world.

Despite the present global uncertainties, in "all the macro-economic parameters, India is number one in the world," Sinha said.

He added that steps such as GST, UPI (unified payment interface), DBT (direct benefit transfer), IBC (insolvency and bankruptcy code) and production linked incentive scheme are helping the economy.

Sinha said the opposition parties should not indulge in "rewari" culture to win elections as it affects states.

Other members who participated in the discussion included TRS's B B Patil, Shiv Sena's S A Barne, TDP's Jayadev Galla and BJP's Shivkumar Udasi.