Rising prices of essential commodities including cement and iron: Is this ‘Acche Din’ or ‘Kaccha Din’?
Centre should create alternative arrangements like the Guarantee schemes
Central government is fooling the people
Bengaluru, March 31: Lashing out at the BJP government in the Centre for rising prices amid fuel shortage, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar today said that the Ujwala scheme has become a firewood stove scheme.
Addressing a joint press conference at the KPCC office, the DCM, who is also the KPCC President, questioned, “What happened to Acche Din? Should we now call what we have ‘Kaccha Din’? I want to ask BJP leaders this question.”
“Elections are underway in five states. Hotels are shutting down and people are being forced to use electric stoves. Over the last fifteen days, electricity consumption in the state has risen by 10%. The Central government has given people a ‘firewood blessing’, but where will the firewood come from?” he said.
“Due to Central government’s wrong decisions and policies, people across the country are suffering from price rise. It’s not just cooking gas cylinder prices, toll charges and railway ticket fares have all gone up. Everyone knows how much criticism was directed at the state government when it was compelled under certain unavoidable circumstances to raise prices. The Central government is waging a price war against ordinary people,” he said.
“The Central government is fooling the people. When we undertook a padayatra, we saw how distressed people were due to price rise. To strengthen their financial position, our government gave them five guarantee schemes. Now our guarantee schemes are providing financial protection to the people,” he said.
“Prices of 900 medicines have been increased. 12% GST has been imposed. Through NPPA price revision, tax on these medicines has been hiked from 10.7% to 12%. Prices of essential items including plastic pipes have been raised by ₹7,000 per tonne. Tenders have already been called by the Public Works Department for laying bitumen, and work has already begun. I have informed contractors and officials in Bengaluru that rather than halting work due to price increases, the government will directly supply bitumen,” he said.
Cement and Iron Price Hike
“Cement prices have also risen by ₹50 to ₹100 per bag. There is a big cement mafia behind this, everyone knows who is controlling it. Iron prices have gone up from ₹47,000 to ₹59,000 per tonne. How can ordinary people build homes under these circumstances? This is also causing setbacks to government construction works. On top of this, airfare has been suddenly increased by 18%,” he hit out.
“Since people have been told not to enter forests, the shortage of firewood will genuinely worsen. Even in villages, gas usage has increased and people have stopped using firewood. If consumption suddenly spikes, there will be a shortage. The black market is already active — domestic gas prices have gone up to ₹2,000 and commercial gas to ₹4,000,” he said.
Centre should create alternative arrangements like the Guarantee schemes
“Postal and parcel charges have been increased by 34%. What happened to ‘Acche Din’? If this continues, how will common people survive? It is only because of our guarantees that people are able to breathe a little. In the same way, the Central government must create alternative arrangements. The Centre is not standing by the people in these difficult times. We demand that the Central government come to the aid of people reeling under price rise,” he urged.
“The Modi government is picking people’s pockets every single day. The Central government has collected ₹900 crore on the Bengaluru–Mysuru highway. If the Central government gave us that same money, we could develop roads in rural areas,” he said.
