SHILLONG: The opposition chief whip PT Sawkmie and Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) have expressed concern over rising price of fuel.
In a statement on Thursday, Sawkmie said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has not thought about the interest of the people.
The increase in the price of petrol and diesel has affected all sections of people badly, he said.
According to Sawkmie, it is unfortunate that the NDA government never thinks about the hardships faced by people due to pandemic and price hike of fuel.
Stating that the price of essential commodities is on the rise and even the commercial vehicles have been affected, Sawkmie sought the intervention of the Prime Minister.
The MPYC staged a protest in Tura against the daily increase in the price of fuel despite the international crude oil prices being at all time low.
In a statement, the MPYC said that India is reeling under an unprecedented crisis due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the unplanned lockdown imposed by the Modi government.
“Instead of helping the people, especially the poor, PM Modi and his government continues to loot the people of India by not just raising fuel rates on a daily basis but also refusing to share benefits of lower crude oil prices with people”, the MPYC said.
The MPYC added that it is a fact that in 2008 when the crude oil prices shot up internationally, the Congress-led UPA government kept them stable in the interest of the people. Time and again, the Congress party has demanded that the government should pass on the benefits of reduced international crude oil prices to the people by reducing the rates of Petrol-Diesel-LPG.
Petrol & diesel as commodities should be under GST to bring relief to the common man but the anti-people Modi government is not paying heed, the MPYC said.
The youth Congress said in the last 6 years, the Centre earned Rs 18 lakh crore from hikes on excise duty on fuel. (Till date, there has been no transparency as to what happened to the money.
State comes under flak
It is not only the Centre, but the state should also give relief to the people. “Instead of helping the people, the state government decided to let the people take care of themselves. There was absolute chaos in the handling of the situation during and after the lockdown. There was no planning in quarantining the returnees from other states, thereby risking the state’s population besides lack of transparency in testing and results, creating confusion”.
The highly publicised funds to be credited for the citizens of the state living in other states is nothing but a publicity stunt, they said.
The MPYC also pointed out to deferring the salaries of government employees and asking for donations and at the same time raising the duties on alcohol and fuel.
“The state government must also answer as to why the excise duties in Meghalaya are higher at Rs 33.14/litre for petrol and Rs 32.42/ litre for diesel.
It is due to such high taxes that the prices of essential commodities, public transportation fares, and others are becoming higher. With backbreaking taxes and high prices of essentials, how will there be any money left in the hands of the people. If there is no money in the hands of the people and the consumers, how can the economy be improved. If the government says more taxes, then good luck on your “Resurgent Meghalaya”, the MPYC said.
The youth Congress pointed out that when Gabriel Wahlang was the president of MPYC in 2013, a letter was written to then Chief Minister Mukul Sangma regarding the state taxes in the interest of the people and he obliged by lowering the taxes.