Govt appeals to oppn to allow discussion on price rise

Government wants smooth functioning of Parliament to ensure passage of important pending bills, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat said. "We are ready for any discussion under the rules," said Rawat.

His colleague, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla also said, "Government was ready for a discussion on price rise. How does it matter whether there is voting or not? What is important is holding a discussion on price rise. We will give answers to every point raised by the opposition."

Accusing the opposition of attempting to scuttle functioning of Parliament, Rawat said government wanted early passing of 31 pending bills and wanted to introduce another 24 important bills.

Asked why government was opposed to the opposition demand for adjournment motion on price rise which entails voting, Rawat said, "It has to be as per the rules. It is the constitutional rules that are coming in the way, not government."

He said that as per rules, an adjournment motion can only be brought on an issue which is of recent origin. "The price rise issue is not recent. It is an ongoing process," he told reporters.

Shukla said, "We appeal to the opposition for participating in the discussion and suggest ways to curb inflation."