Congress MPs get Montek Singh Ahluwalia's lecture on need to reduce subsidy burden

NEW DELHI: On a day when minister RPN Singh informed the Rajya Sabha that the government had no plans to deregulate diesel, kerosene or LPG, Congress MPs were being lectured on the need to reduce the subsidy burden.

At a lecture organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies on the state of the economy, at least 40 Congress MPs heard out Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia as he built a strong case for phasing out fuel subsidies, something that the government he is part of seems to have given up on.

Congress secretary and spokesman Sanjay Nirupam, who attended the lecture, said that MPs had been attending similar sessions in the past, on tribal issues, urban development and the Lokpal bill. "This was part of that lecture series, and the deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission spoke on the economy, GDP, the agricultural sector and, yes, phasing out of subsidies," he said.

While MPs heard out Ahluwalia's pitch for bridging the fiscal gap by an end to the subsidy era, and how MPs should build some public opinion around the idea, however politically unpalatable it may be, MPs had more pressing concerns.

Jagadambika Pal queried Ahluwalia on how leakages in the government's flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) could be plugged. Another MP wanted to know about fixing the poverty line, and the mechanics of arriving at the Rs 32 per day figure put out by the Planning Commission. Ahluwalia, it is said, tried to answer some questions. "But it was a short presentation of an hour and not all questions could be answered," said Nirupam.

According to figures provided by the petroleum ministry to Parliament, the government is providing subsidy of 82 paise on a litre of PDS kerosene and Rs 22.58 for a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.

Economist Surjit Bhalla said Ahluwalia's prescription was sound and didn't quite understand the government's decision to not go in for deregulation.