Price protest: Congress asks people not to buy fuel on July 15

BHUBANESWAR: The Congress, state unit, on Monday appealed to people to raise their voices against the rise in fuel prices and urged them not to buy petrol, diesel and cooking gas for a day on July 15 as a mark of protest against the government’s failure to address the issue.
“We (Congress party) will launch a statewide agitation from July 7 to 17 against the steep hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG gas and other essential commodities. We request the consumers to boycott the purchase of fuel and LPG gas on July 15. We feel this mark of protest may put pressure on the Centre and state government,” Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik said.
According to the plan, the party would stage demonstrations in each block on July 7, at district headquarters on July 9 and in Bhubaneswar on July 14. “We will launch a signature campaign in front of all petrol pumps on July 17. A memorandum along with the signatures of consumers will be sent to the Centre,” Niranjan said.
Patnaik said the astronomical rise in fuel prices and high inflation dealt a body blow to people during the pandemic. “Many people have lost their jobs and faced salary cuts during the pandemic. Economy has been affected. Fuel prices have crossed Rs 100 mark in different states, including Odisha. The Centre and state government must slash the central excise duty and state VAT on fuel,” Niranjan said.
The Congress staged a state-wide bandh on February 15 from 7 am to 1 pm protesting the rise in fuel prices. On February 6, Niranjan wrote chief minister Naveen Patnaik and urged him to slash the state VAT by Rs 10 per litre on petrol and diesel. Petrol and diesel prices stood at Rs 100.72 and Rs 97.45 respectively in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
At present, both the central excise duty and state VAT constitute about 70% of the total prices of fuel. To shore up its pandemic-hit revenue, the state government in May last year hiked the state VAT on petrol from 26% to 32% and on diesel from 26% to 28%. Currently, the central excise duty makes up for 39% of petrol and 42.5% of diesel.