Price rise to dominate 2nd half of budget session beginning tomo

New Delhi, Apr 14 (UNI) With inflation touching a 40-month high, the Government is likely to face the heat over the issue of price rise inParliament as the budget session resumes after a 25-day recess tomorrow.

Inflation reached 7.41 per cent in the week ended March 29.

Though the government has banned export of oil seeds, pulses and long basmati rice, the effect of the measure is yet to be seen on the prices.

The Opposition is all set to corner the Government in both the houses of Parliament on the issue.

Besides, heated discussion is on the cards over some bills like the Forward Contracts (Amendment) Bill and Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, which the Government may take up during the session.

The issues arising out of the Supreme Court judgement clearing the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are also expected to be discussed.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry wanted that the Forward Contracts Bill would have been taken up by Parliament before it was adjourned for the recess. The Government had to shelve the idea for lack of political support after the Opposition parties held futures trading as one of the reasons responsible for the sharp rise in farm product prices.

The government had introduced Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill a couple of years ago.

While in the first part of the session, the Government was able to get the attention of both the houses on the promises made in the budget, in the second part, it may have to face the Opposition over its performance.

Both the Samajwadi Party and the BJP have declared that they would bring in an adjournment motion on the issue and may stall proceedings if the government does not allow a special discussion on the matter.

In fact, then Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had himself said that the issue of price rise would be discussed when Parliament meets after the recess.

Besides the attack on the government in Parliament, the Opposition would also try to build pressure from outside.

The UNPA and the Left parties today declared that they would take out a protest march in the Parliament House premises in the morning before the session begins.

Among the important legislation passed in the first part of the session were the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill and the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, both of which replaced ordinances.

While five Bills introduced to replace ordinances were passed by Parliament, the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2008, was held up due to opposition from the Left parties which are supporting the government from outside.

UNI NAZ SK AS1956