Srinagar: Opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including PDP and BJP, on Wednesday demanded an immediate roll back of the hike in fuel prices and increasing the cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders in the state.
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone allowed a discussion on the crisis arising out of the LPG cap following an adjournment motion moved by several members, including some from the treasury benches.
As soon as the house assembled, pandemonium broke out as opposition PDP and BJP demanded suspension of question hour to discuss the problems caused by the cap on LPG cylinders.
Lone urged the opposition to allow the question hour proceedings after which the LPG crisis will be discussed but suspended the day’s business as the opposition refused to relent.
Speaking on the adjournment motion, leader of opposition Mehbooba Mufti warned that if the cap on the number of subsidised cylinders was not increased, it can lead to upheaval during the winter. “There is a possibility of upheaval during the winter if LPG gets out of reach of the common people. They are already reeling under electricity shortage and will be left with no alternative for fuelling their kitchen,” she said.
Mehbooba asked the state government to take cue from Congress-ruled states like Delhi and increase the number of subsidised cylinders. She also lamented that the verification process for LPG connections was tedious and resulted in unwarranted hardships for the people of the state.
The PDP president said it was surprising that the latest price issued by the oil companies after approval from government for unsubsidised cylinders was Rs 100 more than elsewhere in the country.
“Why should the prices be Rs 100 higher in our state?” she asked. CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami said while he was happy at the unanimity of the house on this crucial public issue, the debate should not end in the house. “Concrete measures should follow to provide relief to the people,” he said.
arigami said while the government at Centre was providing tax holidays worth trillions of rupees to the multi-national corporations, it is hard-pressing the common man in the name of so called reforms.
“Why is the government shying away from providing a subsidy of few thousand crores to the common man when it is waiving off taxes worth lakhs of crores for MNCs?” he asked. He said the price rise in international markets was a fiction and the oil companies in the country were not running in losses. National Panthers Party (NPP) MLA Harsh Dev Singh said the hike in fuel prices has resulted in price hike of all commodities and will put pressure on forests. (PTI)