Petrol, diesel price hike and the Prime Minister’s lies
The hike in the price of petrol and diesel has triggered anxiety in the country. The middle class is ready to explode like a cylinder any time. Even as the price of petrol hit the century mark in Rajasthan on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time chose to open his lips and utter a few words. He said: “previous governments are responsible for the hike in prices. The previous governments did not pay any attention to reducing the dependency of India on imported fuel.”
This clarification from the Prime Minister has provoked the people. Modi made the statement forgetting that he had led the previous government. The Modi-led government took on the reins for the first time by pointing fingers at the hike in price in petrol and gas cylinders during the UPA regime.
But, after taking over office, the Modi government not only failed to regulate the petrol price but created a situation where even when the price of fuel in the international market has reduced, the cost of petrol in the country has skyrocketed. During the previous UPA government, even when the price of crude oil increased substantially, the prices in India had not increased to this extent.
What does reduction in the dependency on imported fuel mean? Have prices increased due to the excessive consumption of petrol? Maybe Modi issued such a clarification assuming people to be fools. The reason for the increase in fuel price is due to the interference of the government.
Otherwise, today people would have been the beneficiaries of the reduction in crude oil prices. Due to the Coronavirus and other global political developments, the price of crude oil came down by over Rs 50 in the international market since the first week of March 2020.
As a result, the price of petrol and diesel should have fallen by at least Rs 25 since the government had left it to the market to decide oil prices. Because of the policy that consumers must pay according to the rise or fall in prices of crude oil, the government initially saved itself from accusations of being responsible for price rise. In anticipation of benefiting from the reduction of crude oil price, the consumer tolerated price hikes every time.
Luckily for the consumer, in March 2020 due to the intensification of price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, the price of crude oil in international market fell by about 31 per cent. Such a fall was the highest since the 1991 Gulf war. India imports more than 84 per cent of crude oil. Previously, when the price of crude oil increased internationally, Indians, who invested heavily, could reap the benefits of fall in prices.
Ironically, the government backstabbed the people. The government that so far defended the price hike by stating that it had no role to play in fixing prices started levying a heavy excise duty the moment the price of crude oil fell in the international market. The benefit of the fall in prices that had to reach the consumers is now reaching the pockets of the government. The economy has completely collapsed due to the government’s wrong economic policies and a situation has been created where the common man has to pay for this. As the price of crude oil has been slowly increasing since May 2020, the price of petrol is also increasing every day.
When the country’s economy had collapsed, a nationwide lockdown was imposed to face the Coronavirus. When the lockdown has now been relaxed, people who were economically destroyed are now in the process of reconstructing their livelihood. This is when the continuous rise in the fuel price is hitting them hard.
A general increase in transport cost has followed the lifting of the lockdown and the hike in petrol prices is cited as a justification. When the transportation cost increases, the cost of commodities also increases. The price of all commodities other than that of farm produce has been slowly increasing. When demand falls, the price of commodities should reduce. But here everything has turned upside down.
When people have lost their ability to purchase commodities, the price of commodities has shot up. When a situation has been created where there are no people to travel in cities, the cost of transport has increased. The government is taking the people for a ride. Previously, when the price of crude oil increased in the international market, people purchased petrol without blaming the government.
Now, when the price of crude oil has decreased internationally, people should benefit from this. The government should therefore withdraw the additional excise tax on crude oil. Similarly, if previous governments are to be blamed for everything, why is Modi in power? And if Modi fails to bring the situation under control, the NDA must obtain the resignation of the Prime Minister and replace him with a person suitable for the position.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
