Rs 45000cr spends cleared without any debate in LS

NEW DELHI: With the government-Opposition standoff over a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam entering its 14th day, supplementary demand for grants amounting to spending of Rs 45,000 crore were passed without debate by Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid noisy disruptions.

Both sides blamed the other for massive spending being decided without debate, with a repeat expected in the upper House on Thursday. Supplementary demands related to railways are expected to be similarly cleared by Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The spending cleared involves allocations for food and fertilizer subsidy and roads — concerns deferred to by all parties who compete to be seen as most sensitive on the aam admi's affairs.

Of the additional government spending of Rs 45,000 crore approved by Lok Sabha, there is a cash outgo of Rs 20,000 crore. The second batch of supplementary demand for grants is over and above government spending sanctioned by the Budget. Though the government denied it, an abrupt closure of this Parliament session on Friday is on the cards.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said he had waited for a week for Parliament to debate the proposals while Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj blamed the government's obduracy over not conceding a JPC.