Steep hike in LPG prices:

Another attack on the working people

On January 1, 2014 the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG) was raised by Rs. 220, one of the steepest hikes so far. Following the increase, a 14.2 kg non-subsidized cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs. 1,241, while it earlier cost Rs. 1,021.

Another attack on the working people

On January 1, 2014 the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG) was raised by Rs. 220, one of the steepest hikes so far. Following the increase, a 14.2 kg non-subsidized cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs. 1,241, while it earlier cost Rs. 1,021.

The latest increase is the third announced during the past month. First the price was hiked by Rs. 63, to Rs. 1017.50 on December 1, 2013. This was followed up with a rise of Rs. 3.50 a cylinder 10 days later, with the government raising the commission for LPG dealers and distributors.

In September 2012, the government had limited the supply of subsidized domestic LPG cylinders to 6 per household per year. This limit was increased to 9 cylinders per household per year in January 2013. While the subsidized LPG cost is currently (following the hike on December 11, 2013) Rs. 414 per cylinder, households that may consume beyond the limit of 9 cylinders per year have to buy them at the non-subsidized cost.

The state owned oil companies, Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have justified the hike in price of LPG on the basis of increase in global prices, i.e. increasing import cost and rupee-dollar exchange rate. The central government has claimed “inability” to bear a higher subsidy burden due to its “precarious fiscal condition”.

The latest increase in the LPG price comes in the last quarter of the financial year, when most households are likely to have exhausted their limit of subsidized gas cylinders. It follows a round of soaring food prices, which has forced a majority of the working class and people to drastically cut down on the consumption of vegetables and other essential food items.

Furthermore, the government has made the availability of even the limited quota of 9 subsidized LPG cylinders per household conditional upon the head of the household (the consumer in whose name the LPG connection is registered) possessing an Aadhar card and linking the same through the LPG dealer to the consumer’s bank account. In other words, the consumer will have to pay at the non-subsidized rate of Rs. 1241 per cylinder and up to the quota of 9 cylinders per year, the difference amount, i.e. Rs. 827 per cylinder will be reimbursed into his bank account.

Millions of working people across the country, who do not have Aadhar cards and/or bank accounts, will now have to face further harassment and difficulty in obtaining even the subsidized LPG cylinders.

The increase of price of LPG constitutes another cruel attack on the masses of working people. Huge agitations are taking place in several states across the country, in which hundreds of working people are coming out on to the streets demanding that the government immediately roll back the price of LPG. Mazdoor Ekta Lehar joins the working people across the country in condemning the hike in LPG prices along with the prices of food and other essential items of mass consumption.

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