NEW DELHI: While the BJP government talks about economic self-sufficiency, the country’s dependence on import of oil and gas has risen to 90 per cent today from 70 per cent twenty years ago, John Brittas, CPI (M) MP from Kerala, said in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Brittas, during a discussion on the Appropriation Bill, said that if oil prices continue to rise as they are today, there will be a cumulative impact of Rs 1.5 - 2 lakh crore on India.
“I don’t know whether the government has taken note of the impact that it is going to play on our economy,” Brittas said.
He stated that the entire civil aviation sector is disrupted and alleged that the government has not only jacked up the air ticket prices but also imposed a surcharge.
“Every sector is reeling under huge pressure,” Brittas said.
Emphasising that 20 years back, the dependence on the import of oil and gas was 70 per cent, he said, “They talk in terms of Atmanirbhar (self-sufficiency) whereas the dependency on oil and gas has gone up to 90 per cent.
“From mining, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, every sector, there is a complete mayhem. Lakhs of people are unemployed,” Brittas added.
He mentioned that the remittance inflow in India is about Rs 16 lakh crore, out of which Kerala alone gets a remittance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore.
“What will happen to these remittances? What is the condition of the diaspora? There are almost 1 crore people in the Middle East. 10 per cent of Keralites reside in the Middle East. A bleak future is staring at them. The government doesn’t have anything to say about it,” Brittas stated.
He criticised Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for justifying the government’s silence on the ongoing West Asia conflict by saying that silence is statecraft.
He also attacked the alleged government’s subservience to the United States and noted that even as the US said that it would not stop with the colonisation, the Indian government thinks that the abject surrender to America’s interest will help our economy.
“We need to speak up against this immoral, illegal war when 165 children were killed in a bomb attack in a Tehran school. I expected the government to stand up and speak,” Brittas said.
He added, “When the supreme leader of Iran was assassinated, I thought there would be condemnation from this government, whereas the advisors of this government advised that condolence, ie, a belated condolence is sufficient. No need for condemnation."
Recalling former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s foreign policy, he stated that Nehru said, “We will not forfeit the hard-won freedom for any material benefits."
He also recalled the attack on Iraq by the US and allied forces in 2003 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and said that the same Parliament, then, had passed a resolution condemning that war.
“Now when there is an illegal war fought, our Indian Parliament is a mute spectator,” he said.
He demanded that the Finance Minister should brief Parliament about the impact of this war on the Indian economy.