BJP MPs plead case of salaried class

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 13. The Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, has agreed to convene a special meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party MPs here tomorrow to enable them to give him suggestions on the budget. The party wants Mr. Sinha to give some tax concessions to the salaried class, pensioners and senior citizens who are squeezed by inflation and falling interest rates.

The decision to hold the meeting was taken today at the parliamentary party meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. A number of MPs gave suggestions for modifications in the budget and this led to the idea that Mr. Sinha meet them separately.

Several members demanded excise cuts on garments, PVC shoes and gems. While welcoming the lower duty on imported palm oil, there was a word of caution that India could be flooded with imported palm oil coming via Nepal and this could adversely affect farmers here.

Referring to the apprehension that the Centre was about to decentralise the Food Corporation of India, the Food Minister, Mr. Shanta Kumar, told the party MPs that the Centre's role and its subsidies would continue. Concern was also expressed that certain foods and medicines contained non-vegetarian ingredients and this was not specifically mentioned on the labels of the processed foods and drugs. Vegetarians were upset on learning that what they may have consumed products which contained substances derived from animals. Mr. Shanta Kumar once again assured members that the Health Ministry would soon make it mandatory for all ingestible products to specifically list the ingredients on the wrappers and state whether or not the product was strictly vegetarian.

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Section  : National
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