TV
Main opposition BJP held the "wrong policies" of the UPA responsible for inflation, while the Left was of the view that these policies had driven millions of poor to despair and frustration.
Initiating the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants, Harin Pathak (BJP) said due to wrong economic policies of government, people were "barely surviving".
"Today, while our foreign reserves stand at USD 297 billion, our debts stand at USD 296 billion...I am disappointed," he said.
Pathak claimed that while several families were living below poverty line, there were 1.40 lakh people who were earning Rs four crore per annum.
"After the Budget, the Prime Minister had said that the government had all the answers to the challenges being faced by the country...But we see that only nine per cent of the allocations are used to provide subsidy and 18 per cent is spent for paying interest and debt repayment," he said.
Referring to Indian black money stashed abroad, he said when BJP leader L K Advani had raised the issue, the UPA did not take it seriously. "But today, even you accept that black money is stashed abroad," he said.
He said if the government does not take the suggestions of Opposition seriously, it will have to return to the Opposition benches.
Taking a dig at UPA leaders facing corruption charges, he said the Morality Development Index of the country was suffering due to corruption.
Supporting the supplementary Demands for Grants, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhury (Cong) said it has provisions for enhanced MPLAD funds and increased honourarium for Anganwadi workers.
Dubbing BJP members as "pessimists", he said today India is in the position to provide funds for European Union bailout package.
Shailendra Kumar (SP) said, "The government should make efforts to keep a tab on fiscal deficit this year which is likely to touch 6 per cent (of GDP).
Gorakh Nath Pandey (BSP) drew the attention of the House towards rising unemployment which forced people to join extremists’ outfits.
Pandey said, "The government needs to deal firmly with issues like corruption, price rise and unemployment."
Kaushalendra Kumar (JD-U) said, "The government should converge rural employment guarantee scheme with other programmes to improve basic amenities in villages.
M B Rajesh (CPI-M), however, opposed the demands for supplementary grants, saying the policy framework is "highly objectionable."
"These policies have driven millions of poor into despair and frustration. On the other hand, the government is giving stimulus package to industry," he rued.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) wondered why the government has not provided funds in the supplementary grants to celebrate birth anniversary of famous poets like Gopal Singh Nepali and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.
He said while honourarium has been hiked for Anganwadi workers, the Aasha (community health worker) workers have been left out.
Others who participated in the debate include C Sivasami (AIADMK), Harsimrat Kaur (SAD), Prabodh Panda (CPI) and T Satpathy (BJD).
