New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The Rajya Sabha Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes over rising prices of essential commodities, infuriating Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
As the house convened, Congress member Rajiv Shukla asked for details about shooting prices of edible items and the steps taken by the government to check them.

Replying to the question, Mukherjee said the imbalance between the supply and demand of commodities like pulses, edible oil and sugar had led to the rise in prices.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) member Brinda Karat interrupted Mukherjee asking what the government was doing to check the price of sugar, selling at Rs.40 per kg.

While Mukherjee was replying to her query, other members of the Left parties started shouting that the government had failed to check the prices of essential items.

Irked by the disruptions, Mukherjee said: “Don’t show your temper here, show your temper somewhere else.”

“The sugar availability this year would be about 16 million tonnes and requirement is 23 million tonnes. So there is a shortfall which is pushing up the prices. To ameliorate the adverse impact of rising prices particularly on the vulnerable section of the society, the answer lies in strengthening the public distribution system,” he said.

Mukherjee said the government was in touch with state governments and they were trying to do their bit but the problem persisted.