Government has denied dream house to the common man : BJP

New Delhi, Nov 1 (UNI) Taking note of 25 basis points hike in the repo rate by the government, the BJP today said it will not help contain inflation but on the other hand would result in costly housing loans denying the common man the chance of building his dream house.

BJP Spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the action of the RBI to hike the repo rate, the rate at which the bank lends the funds to commercial banks, would halt the housing growth and have adverse impact on employment scenario. During the NDA regime, the housing loans were down to seven per cent giving a fillip to the housing sector from around 13 per cent interest rate. "Now the clock is turned back by the UPA resulting in a high interest regime", he said.

He said it was ironic that the country was witnessing contradictions in the economy. The sensex index is crossing 13,000 mark so also the graph of farmers' suicides. The eight per cent growth witnessed by the country was not because of the government's policy. If the government were to be prudent, the growth could have been propelled around 11 per cent and not at the present level, he added.

Turning to the government's decision to increase the Minimum Support Price for wheat at Rs 750 a quintal, Mr Javadekar said it was totally inadequate considering the fact that the government was willing to shell out Rs 900 for imported Australian wheat. At this rate the government can't expect to procure wheat in sufficient quantity and remove shortage. If FCI godowns remain empty, there can be no fair play in operation, he felt.

He also objected to the Prime Minister's rejection of the demand to consider a one time loan waiver for small and marginal farmers on the ground that it would have negative impact on fiscal system. If the government can offer such terms for industrial borrowing, than the same package can be given to farming community also, he said.

The Government should offer hiked MSP for all food grains, cottons, spices and ground nuts to help the farmers in distress.

On Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's outbursts against the Shishu Mandirs run by RSS, he said his venomous diatribe against the institutions was because of hatred towards the RSS and he could not close his eyes to the fact that these institutions offered quality education at affordable level. He should replicate this efforts in improving the quality in government run schools, he said.

UNI MCN RP BS1722