A Congress member's contention that he does not accept 78 per cent of citizens were living at Rs 20 per day attracted the ire of the Opposition, forcing Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to clarify.
Participating in the discussion on Finance Bill, Sanjay Nirupam (Cong) said he does not believe in an official report that 78 per cent of Indians were living at Rs 20 per day. "I don't think there is so much of poverty in the country....The Government is making efforts to improve their living conditions," he said.
Several BJP members stood up and objected to his statement. Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) could be heard saying that Nirupam was making fun of the poor.
Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said it was the Arjun Sengupta panel which gave the figures. "The figures are not ours. It was a Government-appointed committee," he said as Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) supported him.
At this, the Finance Minister said three sets of figures were available on the number of people in the below poverty line category and the Planning Commission has been asked to look into the matter so that a "determined figure" could be arrived at.
When Nirupam cited figures of growth rates of states, Lalu Prasad (RJD) asked the government to take lessons from Bihar Government which is ruled by his political rival Nitish Kumar of JD-U.
Nirupam claimed that foodgrain provided to state governments was not being utilised and gave the example of BJP-ruled Gujarat.
This again led to an uproar by BJP members as their senior leader Yashwant Sinha asked Mukherjee to ensure that Nirupam does not cross the line by raising "controversial issues."
