Lawmakers draw government's attention on rising inflation

Kathmandu, June 3 (RSS): MPs have urged the government to urgently find out the reasons for the steep rise in market prices and stem the problem.    

Taking part in the discussions on a proposal of urgent public importance related to the hike in the price of petroleum products in a session of the House of Representatives today, they said the inflation has broken the back of the common man and it has affected the daily life of the public.    

Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, seconding the proposal, said the general people were finding it hard to make ends meet due to the price hike.    

Pushpa Bhusal stressed lessening the imports and increasing the export for building a robust economy while Dila Sangraula called attention of the government to address the problem of rising market inflation.    

Lal Babu Pandit accused the government of not carrying out market monitoring in a strict manner which is why the consumers are always at the receiving end. Narayan Prasad Khatiwada called on the government to bring an effective plan for checking market inflation.    

Sher Bahadur Tamang stressed the need of taking drastic measures to bring down the price of essential commodities including cooking oil for providing relief to the consumers.    

Samina Hussein demanded finding out the root cause of the price rise to bring an effective plan for arresting it.    

CPN (UML) Whip Bishal Bhattarai had presented the proposal of urgent public importance drawing the government's attention to the steep rise in market inflation as well as the prices of essential commodities. He accused the government of failing to take cognizance of the major economic indicators and the burgeoning market price rise.    

The government is alleged to not taking any measures to discourage inflation and increasing the prices of petroleum products such as cooking fuel, diesel, petrol and kerosene against provisions of automated price adjustment of fuels.    

As the proposal claimed, the multi-dimensional impact of the rise of prices of petroleum products had not been analysed and the need of discussions with opposition and experts from relevant fields was ignored to assess ways for price adjustment.     

Though Nepal’s constitution has guaranteed the citizens’ right to live with dignity, the price rise has made the livelihood of people with minimum and meagre income difficult,” the main opposition party says, adding. The proposal reads: "So it is imperative to come up with a clear draft promptly for reduction of the prices of petroleum products and thus to ensure the primary and most significant responsibility of the welfare state which is to make the basic needs of the people addressed."    

The proposal was seconded by lawmakers Yagya Raj Sunuwar, Ganesh Kumar Pahadi and Rajendra Lingden.