“Fuel prices hiked in India are 1/10th of prices hiked in other countries,” said Union minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday.
New Delhi: On a day the Opposition parties rocked the Parliament session over rising fuel prices, forcing the Lok Sabha Speaker to adjourn the House, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday compared the steep prices with rising gasoline prices in foreign nations like Canada, UK, Germany, Spain and others.
News agency ANI quoted the minister as saying, “Fuel prices hiked in India are 1/10th of prices hiked in other countries. Comparing gasoline (petrol) prices between Apr 2021 & Mar 22, the prices in US have increased by 51%, Canada 52%, Germany 55%, UK 55%, France 50%, Spain 58% but in India 5%.”
Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha members of the Opposition parties, including Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress and Left parties ascended on to the Well of the House and shouted slogans. While Speaker Om Birla initially tried to bring the House in order during the Question Hour, he had to finally adjourn the House for half an hour.
Also on Tuesday, the Lok Sabha managed to pass the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill. Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said there is no intention to misuse the provisions of the Bill and added it is only to ensure investigators are one step ahead of criminals.
“It is to keep our policemen ahead of the criminals. Next-generation crimes cannot be tackled with old techniques…we have to try to take criminal justice system to the next era,” said Shah.
The provisions of the legislation, once enacted, will allow a head constable to take measurements of convicts and those in preventive detention for identification and investigation of criminal matters, and allow them to preserve records.
However, the Congress called it “draconian” and “against the civil liberties”. Party leader Manish Tewari said, “The Bill is against the very spirit of Articles 14, 19 and 21. It is also against the practice of treating everyone as innocent unless proven guilty. The provisions can be misused by the state and the police.”
Allaying fears, Shah said, ““Best technology will be used for safeguarding data and the manpower will be imparted training.” Meanwhile, Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Dayanidhi Maran accused the government of trying to establish a surveillance state and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Mitra said although the Bill seeks to replace the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, it has fewer safeguards than the British-enacted law.
