Congress stages walkout from Lok Sabha during Sitharaman's reply on price rise debate; two bills passed in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India], August 1 (ANI): Lok Sabha returned to normal functioning on Monday two weeks after the start of the monsoon session of Parliament with the government moving the motion for revoking the suspension of four Congress members.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to a feisty debate on price rise in the House and gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the charges levelled by the opposition against the government. Congress staged a walkout during the minister's reply.
Rajya Sabha passed two bills amid some protests by opposition members.
The Opposition had been demanding a discussion on price rise from the start of the monsoon session and had held noisy protests. The government had said that the discussion would take place after the Finance Minister recovers from COVID-19.
The discussion on price rise is slated to take place in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
When the Lok Sabha met at 2 pm, Speaker Om Birla said that the incidents of the past some days had hurt him. He asked opposition members not to bring placards to the House.
Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that opposition wants the House to function smoothly and sought revocation of suspension of four party members.
Replying to the debate, Sitharaman said there is no question of India getting into stagflation or recession like other major economies of the world.
Rebutting opposition allegations concerning GST, she said there is no GST on crematorium, funeral, burial or on mortuary services.
"They are fully exempt from GST. Standard rates of GST will be imposed on construction that may be carried out for a crematorium," she said.
Referring to opposition criticism of GST on some items of daily use, she said the decision had been taken in a meeting of the GST council which has members from state governments.
She said India is the fastest growing big economy and people have contributed to meeting the challenges posed by COVID-19.
"We have never seen a pandemic of this kind. All of us were trying to make sure that people in our constituencies are given extra help. I recognise that everybody -MPs and state governments have played their role. Otherwise, India would not be where it is compared to the rest of the world."
"So, I fully credit the people of India for this. Even against adversity, we are able to stand up and be recognised as the fastest growing economy," she said.
The Finance Minister emphasized that due to the measures taken by the government, India is in a much better position than most countries.
"Repeatedly in the assessment of global agencies, India remains the fastest growing economy in the assessment of global agencies. This House irrespective of the party should feel proud of the country and its people. State governments have helped," she stated in the Lok Sabha.
"Pandemic, second wave, Omicron, Russia-Ukraine (war), even today largest supply components in China are under lockdown...in spite of that, we have held inflation well within 7 per cent or below. That has to be recognised," she said.
She also referred to GST collection.
"In July 2022, we garnered the second highest level ever since the introduction of GST - which is Rs 1.49 Lakh crore. This is the fifth consecutive month that collections have been above Rs 1.4 Lakh crore," she said.
Referring to opposition criticism on inflation, she said in 2012-13, CPI-based inflation was 10.05 per cent, it was 9.38 per cent in 2013-14, in 2014-15 it was 5.83 per cent and in 2015-16 it was 4.91 per cent.
"It was 6.16 per cent in 2020-2021. But it was nothing compared to 10 per cent," she added.
She also referred to recent remarks of former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan about India's economic performance.
"On Saturday, Raghuram Rajan said that 'RBI has done a good job in increasing foreign exchange reserve in India, insulating India from problems being faced by neighbouring countries such as Pakistan & Sri Lanka'," she said.
Earlier, the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha saw opposition protests on various issues including price rise, GST rates and Enforcement Directorate's action against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
The House passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 to assist in protecting the frozen continent where India operates research centres and is part of several scientific explorations.
The upper House also passed a bill to ban financing any prohibited activity related to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems as well as empowering the Centre to freeze, seize or attach economic resources of persons involved in such activities.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery System (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities), Amendment Bill, 2022 was passed after reply by External Affairs Minister S Jaishakar.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on July 18 and will continue till August 12. (ANI)