Oppn concern in Lok Sabha over state of economy

Opposition today expressed concern over the state of economy and said there was an urgent need to tackle issues like increasing inequality, import-export imbalance and falling industrial growth.

Participating in a debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha, members from BJP, JD(U), BSP, Left and Samajwadi Party criticised the government's economic policies, alleging these were not friendly to farmers and common people.

Initiating the debate, Nishikant Dubey (BJP) said as the government prepares to work on the next general budget, it should answer on issues like rising inequality among different regions of the country, imbalance between exports and imports and falling industrial growth.

He claimed that while government plans FDI in multi-brand retail, it should explain how the cold chain to preserve perishables will be maintained when power supply is a constant problem.

"Will the cold chains run on generators," he asked.

He also raised the issue of providing Unique Identification Number (UID) to infiltrators from Bangladesh and said such a move will help them derive other benefits like ration cards which was not in the interest of the country.

Vijay Bahadur Singh (BSP) said the government was only focusing on urban development while neglecting the villages, where over 60 per cent of the country's population resides.

"Will people eat bread or parts of cars?... There should be focus on increasing the agricultural output in which our country has huge potential," he said.