gÉÉŌ A.]ÉŌ. xÉÉxÉÉ

03.08.2010
Where from is he coming? He is coming from a State ruled by Communist Parties
for the last 30 years. There is abject poverty in Bengal. How is it happening there?
They are blaming other States here. Shri Basudeb Acharia is raising his pointed
finger at the Finance Minister. Sir, can they do that? Today, after 30 years of
continuous rule of a party in Bengal, poverty is prevailing there. In our State,
nobody will work for Rs. 80 per day. In plantations and farmland, and in the
granite quarries, Bengali workers are available and they are ready to work for Rs.
90 or Rs. 100. They are coming to work there.
Sir, our fight here is not against any party. Our fight is not Opposition
versus ruling party. Our fight is against poverty. We have anti-poverty
programmes. We have to jointly take up these programmes and see that our
people are relieved from this burden of poverty.
Here is a situation. Sir, today, prices are coming down. This is a very
welcome situation. This House was discussing price rise in the last Session. I
want you to please understand that price of rice in Delhi today is Rs. 22 per kilo.
When we were discussing the very same Resolution in the last Session, the price
of rice in Delhi was Rs. 25 to Rs. 29 per kilo. Today, the price of wheat in Delhi
is Rs.14 per kilo. When we were discussing this Resolution in this very House last
time, the price of wheat was Rs. 18 to Rs. 19. As regards sugar, our friend, Dr.
Thambidurai was saying that it costs Rs. 45 per kilo. In Delhi, one kilo of sugar
costs Rs. 31. When we were discussing this Resolution in the last Session……
(Interruptions) Probably, he is right. When we were discussing this Resolution
in the last Session in this House, sugar was available at Rs. 45 per kilo.
But for very few items, there is a crisis in edible oil. Today, for all the
edible oil imported to the country and distributed through the Public Distribution
System, the Government is giving Rs. 15 per kilo as a subsidy on it. I raised it in
the House that we are also locally producing oil like the coconut oil and soyabean
oil. They should also be treated on par. So, the Government had given us an
assurance. I would like to bring it to the attention of the hon. Finance Minister
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