Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Mar, 09
JKPCC Minority Department on Tuesday held strong protest Dharna at 4th bridge, Bhagwati Nagar Chowk, in connection with price hike in petroleum products and other household utility items. The protest was organized by JKPCC Minority Depar tment Chairman Gurdar shan Singh and led by JKPCC Vice President Raman Bhalla, JKPCC Chief Spokesman Ravinder Sharma, JKPCC General Secretary Manmohan Singh ,Distt Jammu Urban President Yogesh Sawhney. Prominent among those present on the occasion include Ved Mahajan, OBC Chairman Suresh Kumar Dogra, Dr. Ramankant Kha juria, Michael Wazir, Jaldev Singh, Jagjeet Singh Rimple, Balwinder Singh Rinku, Gurmeet Singh, Jatinder Singh Dimpa, Rajesh Sharma, Chan dershekhar Sharma, Atul Sharma, Ajay Kumar, Varinder Chib , Rajveer Singh beside others. The protesters tried to head towards Governor House but were stopped at Canal road by heavy deployment of Police.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla said through protests, we want to raise the anger among people against the rise in prices. We will continue to raise our demand, and our agitation for raising the voice of the common man. He alleged the Modi government has earned at least Rs 21 lakh crore in the last over six years by raising prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.Where has that money gone. Whom did you give that money to,” he asked. He alleged that on one side, the government is reducing the burden of the rich by reducing taxes of big Corporates, on the other it is putting more burdens on women, middle class and common people, which they are unable to bear. Every commodity, including food articles, is becoming expensive, he claimed. On one side, you are filling the treasury but are not looking at how it is impacting the common people,” he said, adding that the people of the country have suffered earlier due to demonetization and then due to the sudden lockdown after Covid-19 pandemic. The economic situation has been shattered in Covid-19 times and the rise in petroleum products is adding to the problems, he said. Price hike affects only the low wages or fixed salaried middle class families as compared to higher wages salaried class. Due to increase in the prices of petrol and diesel there has been increase in the prices of fares of vehicles causing lot of problems for the common man and poor people who have to travel long distances for work.
Citing the rise as unjust, former Minister expressed resentment for the government which has failed to rein in galloping inflation. Highest ever petrol and diesel prices were followed by hike in grocery items, cooking oils, construction material such as iron and steel.
He expressed a concern over the rising expenses as income of most households has already taken a hit after the Covid outbreak. However, common man everyday expenses have been witnessing a rise every week. He said despite paying hefty amounts of tax already, a common man is being made to pay tax on each item procured from the market, separately. Spiraling prices of several food items have aggravated the problem for people belonging to lower income groups.Price rise of essential goods is threatening to jeopardize the budget in most households. Rise in the prices of almost all the things, including essential commodities has become a common feature these days. A slight rise in prices is not a bad thing. It accounts for growth in the economy. But sudden and massive rise in prices causes an all-round spiral effect on prices of commodities that makes life of common people miserable. The prices of food grains have been rising continuously. The government should do something in this direction. Only then the real welfare of the masses can be ensured.
JKPCC Chief Spok esman Ravinder Sharma speaking on the ocassion claimed that with almost no fiscal stimulus, the economy is struggling to get back on track, but the government is ignorant and blatantly incompetent in controlling inflation.
He said while the government should be exploring avenues to provide support to the people and boost consumption, it is on a lookout to “extract as much from the common man and leave them helpless.
We demand that the government immediately act on black marketers, assess stock of essential items lying in cold storages and push sufficient stock in the markets to control the prices.
He said the consumer food price inflation has been consistently high for the last few months, both in the urban and rural areas. When the time is to boost consumption in our economy, why is the government denting the pockets of the common man through increased prices for their mandatory spending,” he also asked. The rise in petrol price in turn has a rippling effect. As all the commodities are transported across India on vehicles that run on petrol or diesel, so increase in petrol price results in price rise of these commodities as well.
Manmohan Sing speaking on the occasion said that rising vegetable prices, LPG, transport costs and house rents are slowly squeezing household budgets forcing families to cut down on their food budgets and leaving them with virtually nothing to save. He said rising borrowing costs have dashed household dreams and soaring prices of food and vegetables forcing poor to change their lifestyle. “The government on the other hand doing nothing to control prices and the same is not reflecting on the ground. He blamed the government for failing to tackle prices and making life difficult for the common man. He maintained that sustained spike in food inflation has a damaging effect on India’s poor, higher food prices would put pressure on earnings, which are already very low, and decrease household savings at a time when there is widespread economic pain in the country. This rise in prices is coming at a time when employment and livelihoods have collapsed. Many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic, and even before because of the economic slowdown, have not been able to find new employment. Those who have jobs are often working at significantly lower wages while the incomes of most self-employed people are a fraction of their previous levels.
Former Minister Yogesh Sawhney maintained that increase in price of petrol and diesel directly affects the common man making the situation miserable for him. Due to increase in the prices of petrol and diesel there has been rapid increase in the prices of the food products and other essential commodities. The poor sections of the society really suffer a lot. The poor people work hard to earn money and if the prices of the essential commodities rise than life would become very hard for these people. These soaring prices have caused great unrest and frustration among the people. The people belonging to the middle class and the salaried people are hit hard. All the more, the soaring prices have become a big threat and an open challenge to the government. It has shaken the faith of the people in the government. There is no let-up in the situation and life has become very hard. The prices of petrol, cooking gas, kerosene oil and several other items of daily use are increasing every year. Not only that, railway fares, air fares and bus and taxi charges are also increasing regularly. The indiscriminate rise in prices of essential commodities has left many a people tense and helpless. No one can foresee what is in store for the common people.
Gurdarshan Singh in his address said that a more serious worry for the government should be falling household savings–which would discourage investments in the economy–and the government should bring in a variety of policy fixes to reverse the trend.The government needs to intervene at the household level to cushion the pain in the economy, said Singh. But with declining household incomes and savings, there is a real threat of a future consumption slowdown in the economy, which could lead to another spell of economic slowdown. For instance, a dip in household savings and lack of government spending–which would result in shrinking of India’s already tight domestic market–could lead to negative investor sentiment, hurting the investment cycle, which, in turn, could begin a slowdown in the economy, added Singh.
