Terming the hike in the prices of a non-subsidised cooking gas cylinder by Rs 86 as “savage”, the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has demanded an immediate rollback to ease the “severe strain” in household budgets.

“This is historically the highest increase in the cost of unsubsidised gas cylinders in the country. The average Indian household, which has either given up the subsidy, or the eligible households which have exceeded their quota of 12 cylinders annually, will now have to pay Rs 737.50 for a single cylinder, up from Rs 651.50/cylinder as on February 28, 2017,” AIDWA president Mailini Bhattacharya said in a statement, threatening countrywide protests on the issue.

AIDWA said household budgets were under “severe strain”, making it difficult for women to keep the home fires burning. “A non-subsidised LPG cylinder that cost Rs 466.50 in September has risen by Rs 271, a whopping 58 per cent increase over six instalments,” it added.

It said the NDA government’s move to shift household kitchens from using firewood, coal, or even kerosene stoves to LPG stoves was being “vitiated by the current government policies that are driving up LPG costs to new heights''.

“Since the universal subsidy scheme has been replaced by a targeted one, a large number of families, who are eligible for subsidised cylinders, are now unable to obtain their entitlement. This steep hike will be extremely detrimental to the well-being of vulnerable sections of society who fall outside the ambit of protective subsidy cushion”, AIDWA said, while pointing out that the international prices of crude oil have been much lower in January and February 2017 compared with December 2016.