New Delhi:
Launching a scathing attack on the UPA for its "failure" to check price rise, the Opposition on Thursday demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into "scams" in essential commodities like wheat, rice, pulses and sugar.
"We demand a JPC to enquire into the scams in these four areas. It should find out why such decisions were taken (which led to these scams)," Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said initiating a debate in the Lok Sabha on the price situation.
She quoted a Bollywood film dialogue about 'maal idhar se udhar karna' (wheeling-dealing) and said "the government is doing this and the matter should be investigated".
Swaraj referred to the President's address in which the government mentioned decline in food production, rise in global prices, hike in support prices to farmers and increase in income in rural areas and said "these are not only baseless but far from truth".
"The actual reasons are scams in wheat, rice, pulses and sugar and all these items are consumed by the vast majority of the poor," the BJP leader said.
The special discussion followed two days of disruption of Parliament by the opposition which sought a debate on rules which entailed voting. However, the opposition later agreed to a discussion under Rule 193, which does not involve voting.
Taking the government to task for claiming that it has succeeded in preventing food crisis, Swaraj claimed that the six-year NDA rule saw only one debate on prices for which notice was given by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Since UPA came to power in 2004, the House held nine rounds of debate on the issue but prices have gone on rising, she said in her maiden speech as the Leader of Opposition.
"There has been no respite to the people as prices of essential items have continued to rise all these years and the government has done nothing. The prices have gone beyond the reach of the poor," she said, mentioning the latest prices of atta (flour), rice, pulses, sugar, tea and vegetables.
Rebutting government claims on declining food production, she said production in 2009-10 dropped from a record output of 234 million tonnes in 2008-09 to 216 million tonnes "which is not a major fall".
She quoted figures to show that global food prices did not rise much during this period, but declined in respect of some items.
Regarding payment of higher minimum support prices to farmers, Swaraj said there was "no relation between MSP and the prices that consumers are paying".
She accused the government of giving by one hand to the farmer and taking it back by the other by raising the urea prices by Rs 25. "So these cannot be the reasons for such major rise in prices".
Countering her charges, Sanjay Nirupam (Congress) said Swaraj's maiden speech as LoP was full of "half-truths".