In the Budget session FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday defended a proposal to cut interest rate paid on employees' provident fund deposits to over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent, saying the rate is dictated by today's realities where interest rate on other small saving instruments was even lower.
In the Raja Sabha replying to a debate on the supplementary spending for the current fiscal, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the decision to lower interest rate was taken by the central board of the provident fund managing body, EPFO, which has representatives of all stakeholders, including employee unions.
Apart from this the BJP government today assured Lok Sabha that it will continue to make fertilizers available to farmers after a member raised the issue, saying there is a decline in the domestic production of the crop-nutrient this year with an inadequate supply of ammonia and potassium from Russia and Ukraine.
Samajawadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and leader Azam Khan resigned from their membership of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The opposition parties protested in Lok Sabha today against the increase in prices of fuel and cooking gas. Raising the issue after the question hour, congress leader Adhir Singh Chowdhury said that the opposition parties have already claimed that the prices of diesel and petrol would rise after the elections.
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