Fin min urges Centre to regulate petrol, diesel prices

Ranchi: State finance minister and Jharkhand Congress president Rameshwar Oraon on Saturday came down heavily on the Union government for the recent hike in the prices of petrol and diesel and other essential commodities and demanded their immediate rollback. His comments came a day after the prices of petrol and diesel rose for the fourth day in a row. After Friday’s hike, petrol price in Ranchi is Rs 88.57 while diesel is Rs 86.34.
“Before the start of the recently concluded assembly elections in five states, I had warned people to brace for a hike in fuel price and now it has come true. The Centre must step in to regulate the prices, especially now because we are going through a tough time financially in the aftermath of the second wave of the pandemic,” Oraon said.
He added, “The prices of edible oils have skyrocketed in recent times. For example, a litre of mustard oil is now over Rs 180. Despite the bumper production of pulses, its price is sky-high because of the increase in the cost of transportation. Coupled with the Covid-induced ongoing lockdowns (full and partial) in several states, economic activities are derailed , rendering many jobless while others are reeling under an acute financial crunch. This is the time when people require economic cushion and price regulation is the least that the Centre can do now but the latter doesn’t seem concerned.”
Congress’s spokesperson Alok Dubey claimed that about 75 lakh people have lost their jobs in the country in the month of April alone. “As per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s recent study, the unemployment rate in the country in April touched 8%, the highest this year. While pandemic is one of the reasons for the slow economic activity, the policy paralysis at the central-level is crippling the economy,” he said.