Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Walkout over price rise

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Members of the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) staged a walkout in the Assembly on Monday in protest against denial of leave for an adjournment motion on the rise in prices of essential commodities.

K.C. Venugopal (Congress), who gave notice for the motion, accused the government of failing to hold the price line.

He said the market intervention efforts had proved ineffective. Prices of essential commodities had increased by 300 per cent during the past two years.

While the Finance Department had made a budgetary allocation of Rs. 60 crore, it had sanctioned only Rs.13 crore, he said.

Opposing the motion, Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran said it provided an occasion for the House to unanimously seek from the Centre a cut in fuel prices following the fall in crude oil prices in the international market.

He said the permission given to multinational companies to enter the retail trading sector and the Centre’s failure to prevent hoarding were some of the factors that had worsened the situation. He also referred to the cut in ration rice quota.

The State government had been able to regulate the prices of all commodities, including rice, through effective market intervention.

He denied the charge that the allocation was insufficient to meet the market intervention efforts.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said the Opposition wanted the Centre to restore the rice quota of the State. The Centre would be able to cut oil prices only after the Assembly elections in five States.

Mr. Chandy accused the government of diverting the rice supplied for the mid-day meal scheme for school students to the market.

Mr. Divakaran accused the Opposition of skirting important issues such as reduction in fuel prices. Once the Centre reduced the fuel price, the State government would bring down the price of all essentials within 48 hours, he said.

Based on the explanation of the Minister, Speaker K. Radhakrishnan denied leave for the adjournment motion and the Opposition members walked out of the Assembly.

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