Concern voiced in Lok Sabha over rising prices of pulses

NEW DELHI: Concern was today expressed in Lok Sabha over rising prices of pulses, with Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy asking the government to take steps to import more pulses and help common people.

Roy said there is a shortage of pulses in the country and the government should take action against those hoarding it.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he said till August, the country has imported only 1.9 million tonnes of pulses.

"There has been tremendous rise in the prices of pulses in the last one year which is affecting millions of people. Arhar dal prices have crossed Rs 200. It is clearly beyond the capacity of the common people," he said.

He alleged that some businessmen have hoarded huge amount of the commodity and the agencies have also seized about 1.33 lakh tonnes of pulses from various parts of the country.

INLD leader Dushyant Chautala raised the issue of paddy procurement and alleged a scam of Rs 10,000 crore in it in his home state Haryana. He said the Centre should set up an SIT to look into the matter.

BJP member Kirit Somaiya rasied the issue of a family which was evicted by fellow patrons at a cinema hall on November 29 in Mumbai for allegedly not standing up during the national anthem.

He said the government should sensitise people about the importance of national anthem and do's and dont's.

ET Mohammad Bashir raised the issue of NRI voting rights and asked the government to immediately implement the decision in this regard. He said it was an unfortunate that despite the matter being agreed in the parliament, it has not yet been implemented.

Congress member Mullappally Ramachandran demanded immediate implementation of 'One Rank One Pension' scheme for defence personnel as he contended that the government is dilly-dallying on the issue.

BJP member Anurag Thakur raised the issue of construction of a university in his constituency and alleged that the state government has not yet started the work.

Lallu Singh of BJP alleged that law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has worsened.