WHO IS THE MOST AFFECTED BY THE PRICE RISE IN PETROL?
THE TWO WHEELER OFFICE GOERS OR SMALL BUSINESSES OR THE RETIRED SENIOR
CITIZENS WITH OR WITHOUT PENSION, ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 5-10% OF TOTAL CONSUMPTION
OF PETROL IN THE COUNTRY.
1. 45-55% OF PETROL IS CONSUMED BY THE GOVT., ITS OFFICERS AND PSU-S AND
THERE IS NO RESTRICTION IN THE USE AS IT IS ONLY A BOOK ENTRY OF TRANSFER OF
FUNDS.
2. BANKS AND OTHER PRIVATE SECTOR INSURANCE CO-S ETC. WHO WERE EARLIER GIVING
MONTHLY PETROL ALLOWANCE TO THE EMPLOYEES, FACING FREQUENT CHANGES IN THE PRICE
OF PETROL, HAVE ALLOCATED 200 LTR. PERMONTH FOR A MIDDLE LEVEL OFFICER, MORE AT
HIGHER LEVELS. THIS MIGHT AMOUNT TO 15-20% OF THE TOTAL.
3. BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIES USE UNLIMITED QUANTITIES OF PETROL THAT GOES INTO
THEIR EXPENSE ACCOUNT AS REFLECTED IN BALANCE SHEETS AND NO RESTRICTIONS ON THE
CONSUMPTION AND ACCOUNTS FOR APPROX.20-25% OF TOTAL CONSUMPTION OFPETROL
4. THIS LEAVES ONLY 5% TO 10% WHICH IS USED BY TWO WHEELERS AND PRIVATE CARS
WHO DO NOT HAVE ANY EXTERNAL FINANCING FOR THE PETROL FOR THEIR DAILY GOING TO
WORK, MARKETING..ETC. THE MOST AFFECTED ARE SENIOR CITIZENS LIVING AWAY FROM
THE MAIN MARKETS, WHO HAVE TO DRIVE TO GET THEIR DAILY NEEDS..ETC.
IT IS THIS 5-10% OF PETROL CONSUMERS WHO BEAR THE BRUNT OF PETROL PRICE
INCREASES. hAS ANYONE UNDERTAKEN A STUDY ON THE CONSUMPTION PATTERN SO FAR, WHY
THE TWO WHEELERS AND SENIOR CITIZENS WITH LIMITED INCOMES ARE HARASSED THIS WAY
?
IS THE GOVT. JUSTIFIED IN PERSECUTING SENIOR CITIZENS AND TWO WHEELERS OF
LOWER MIDDLE CLASS IN THIS MANNER?
Jharkhand Blog <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Jharkhand Blog
Please understand! PM tells aam aadmi
The fuel price hike was inevitable. The government has not forgotten the
common man. And the state still bears 90 per cent of the burden on account of
the global oil shock. This was the message Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought
to convey in his address to the nation Wednesday.
"It must be appreciated that what has been done is the bare minimum," the
prime minister said in the 20-minute televised address, hours after a meeting
of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs headed by him allowed a 9.5-11
per cent hike in prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
In the speech, which also touched upon the various social development
programmes of his four-year-old United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
with a clear eye on impending national elections, the prime minister urged
people to understand the government's predicament.
"Business cannot go on like this for ever. We need to learn to adjust to this
new international scenario. We need to be efficient and economical in our use
of energy," he said, pointing out the global crude oil prices had topped $135
per barrel, against $67 per barrel when fuel prices were last raised in
February.
"Our oil companies cannot go on incurring losses. This way, they will have no
money to import crude oil from abroad," he said, adding: "Thus a rise in prices
is inevitable."
The prime minister said despite the hike in prices of some petroleum products
being permitted by his government, as much as 90 per cent of the fiscal burden
had to be still borne by the government.
"It is therefore incumbent upon state governments, many of whom tax petroleum
products substantially, to also contribute to this national effort by suitably
reducing state taxes and levies," he said.
Yet, the political undertones of his address, given that his government has
now entered an election year, were evident when he began his address by listing
the various pro-poor and agrarian-centric programmes of his government.
"I am sure that all these efforts have started to bear fruit and no one can
deny that we are moving in the right direction to eliminate poverty, ignorance
and disease," he said.
He also spoke of the twin issues of growth and rising prices, and said
inflation in India was the result of rising food and commodity prices around
the world and rising world oil prices.
"I assure you our government will continue to pursue policies that will make
our growth process more socially inclusive, more meaningful to all sections of
society and more beneficial to our farmers, artisans, and industrial workers."
Manmohan Singh's address also came after the opposition, led by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), and the Left parties, which prop the ruling coalition, were
unanimous in denouncing the price hike permitted by the government.
"This isn't a marginal hike. It's a substantial hike. It will have a
deleterious effect. It will fuel inflation. So the Left parties will have a
week-long protest from Thursday," Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)
leader Prakash Karat said.
India's annual rate of inflation has topped the worrisome eight-per cent mark
and stood at 8.1 per cent for the week ended May 17.
"This is an economic terror unleashed on the country. The prime minister has
put another burden on the people. This will cause an upheaval in the nation. It
is a black day for the country," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
The prime minister, however, took the line that there was no other
alternative and that the citizens of India needed to adjust to the new
realities of energy security and not pass on the burden to the next generation.
"This global Oil Shock has imposed a huge burden on our finances and
financial resources of our oil companies. In the past year alone, as oil prices
doubled, our government did not make any adjustments in the price of petrol and
other petroleum products. Kerosene prices have not been touched in four years."
He also sought to highlight the fact that the hikes permitted by his
government also came with a cut in customs duties on crude oil to nil from five
per cent and on diesel and petrol to 2.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent. Excise
duty was also cut.
The prime minister, accordingly, also made an appeal to the state governments
to cut their sales tax, since, as Petroleum Minister Murli Deora explained, was
as high as 30 per cent or more in some states.
"It is therefore incumbent upon state governments, many of whom tax petroleum
products substantially, to also contribute to this national effort by suitably
reducing state taxes and levies," the prime minister said.
Prior to his speech, the prime minister also constituted a high-powered panel
to examine the financial position of state-run oil companies against the
backdrop of soaring crude oil prices.
economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3100467,prtpage-1.cms
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