The BJP-led central government has come under Opposition fire over the decision to hike prices of essential commodities, including cooking gas, petrol, diesel, jet fuel and medicines, as a ripple effect of the widening conflict in West Asia.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that while common citizens are hoping for relief, the BJP leadership remains focused on "looting the public and plundering the nation amidst this crisis".
He highlighted that the rise in commercial LPG price has crippled roadside eateries and midday meal programmes, while the hike in Aviation Turbine Fuel will affect air travel.
"Over 900 essential medicines become more expensive; healthcare costs have surged further; prices of coronary stents have gone up; you will have to pay higher Toll Taxes; 'highway robbery' is in full swing; speed post charges have also seen a 34 per cent hike: severe impact on plastic goods, steel, and ceramics; PVC pipes for farmers have become more expensive; Bitumen prices have risen by up to 50 per cent; the construction sector faces immense pressure," Kharge added.
The Congress leader also criticised the Modi government’s alleged avoidance of parliamentary debate on the price hike. “I have submitted a letter seeking a short-duration discussion, but the government has no time for it”, he said.
Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged April 1 has become "a day of loot, rob and fleece" under the BJP.
Uttar Pradesh BJP MP Laxmikant Bajpayee alleged that pharmaceutical price exploitation was tarnishing the government’s image. The MP claimed patients under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana were being prescribed expensive branded drugs by nursing homes, defeating the scheme's purpose.
He urged the government to enforce uniform pricing for medicines with the same active ingredient, citing the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the Drug Price Control Order and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
Prices of commercial LPG were hiked by Rs 195.50 on Wednesday, on the back of a surge in global oil prices linked to the widening West Asia conflict.
A 19-kg commercial LPG now costs Rs 2,078.50 in Delhi, according to state-owned oil companies. Rates were last increased by Rs 114.5 per 19-kg cylinder on March 1.
Domestic cooking gas LPG rates, which were last hiked by Rs 60 per 14.2-kg cylinder on March 7, remain unchanged. It costs Rs 913 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
Price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, was more than doubled to a record Rs 2.07 lakh per kilolitre on Wednesday, mirroring the surge in global oil prices last month, but for domestic airlines, the increase would only be 8.5 per cent.
