Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has justified the hike in excise duties on petrol and diesel saying that revenues are evenly shared with the states. He was responding to opposition demand in the Rajya Sabha on the hike in excise duties on petrol and diesel. <br/><br/>Mr Jaitley said part of the reduction in the global oil prices is passed on to the consumers while loss in revenue due to procurement by oil companies at higher prices earlier, is partially compensated. The Finance Minister said the central share of higher revenues goes to infrastructure, national highways and rural roads. <br/><br/>As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition leaders demanded the cut in oil prices should be passed on to the consumers. Initiating the discussion, Anand Sharma of the Congress alleged that the government is profiteering and trying to make up the fiscal deficit. Tapan Kumar Sen of the CPIM, Ramgopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sharad Yadav of the JD(U), Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of Trinamool Congress, Satish Chandra Mishra of the BSP, Bhupender Singh of BJD, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Akali Dal, A Navneetakrishnan of the AIADMK and D Raja of the CPI, participated in the discussion.<br/><br/>Later, when the question hour began, Congress members started raising slogans on the political development in Arunachal Pradesh. Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 12.35 PM.<br/><br/>When the House met at 12.35 PM, Congress members again rushed to the well of the House on the issue of Arunchal Pradesh. Chairman Ansari adjourned the House till 2 PM as uproar continued.<br/><br/>Earlier, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad assured the House that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, will be passed in the current Winter Session. BSP chief Mayawati suggested that the bill be passed without discussion in view of repeated adjournments. Responding to this, Mr Azad said this is an important bill and discussions will be held before its passage.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has justified the hike in excise duties on petrol and diesel saying that revenues are evenly shared with the states. Responding to opposition demand in the Rajya Sabha today, Mr Jaitley said that part of the reduction in the global oil prices is passed on to the consumers while loss in revenue due to procurement by oil companies at higher prices earlier, is partially compensated. <br/><br/>The finance minister said the central share of higher revenues goes to infrastructure by building national highways and rural roads. As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition leaders demanded the cut in oil prices should be passed on to the consumers. Initiating the discussion, Anand Sharma of the Congress alleged that the government is profiteering and trying to make up the fiscal deficit. <br/><br/>Tapan Kumar Sen of the CPIM, Rangopal Yadav if the Samajwadi Party, Sharad Yadav of the JD(U), Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of Trinamool Congress, Satish Mishra of the BSP, Bhupender Singh of BJD, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Akali Dal, A Navneetakrishnan of the AIADMK and D Raja of the CPI, participated in the discussion.<br/><br/>Later, when the question hour began, Congress members started raising slogans on the political development in Arunachal Pradesh. Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 12.35 PM. When the House met at 12.35 PM, Congress members again rushed to the well of the House on the issue of Arunchal Pradesh. Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the House till 2 PM as uproar continued.<br/><br/>Earlier, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad assured the House that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, will be passed in the current Winter Session. Ms Mayawati of the BSP suggested that the bill be passed without discussion in view of repeated adjournments. Responding to this, Mr Azad said this is an important bill and discussions will be held before its passage.