Left events protest towards gas worth hike in Odisha

By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: Left events on Thursday noticed a six-hour Odisha bandh towards the steep rise in costs of gas and different important commodities.

Even although the bandh evoked a combined response, main enterprise institutions remained closed within the State Capital at a time when partial lockdown between 2 pm and 6 am is in pressure in 10 districts. The petrol pumps too remained closed within the metropolis from 6 am to 12 pm.

In the Capital, the protestors demonstrated on the railway station and demanded to rollback the gas worth hikes. They additionally demonstrated at Station Square and blocked the street in the direction of Ram Mandir Square and took out protest rallies in areas together with Rajmahal Square.

Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, organizations like All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU), and others have been a part of the bandh.

“The prices of fuel have skyrocketed in the last couple of months and this has also led to a steep hike in costs of other essential commodities. The Centre says the prices are being fixed by the oil companies, however, whenever there are elections in states, the hike in costs of petrol and diesel are being immediately regulated,” mentioned CPI’s nationwide government committee member Ram Krushna Panda.

The CPI claimed that when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in energy, the price of per barrel crude oil was over 100 USD however per litre petrol’s worth again then was round Rs 77.

“Per barrel crude oil’s current price is USD 77 but one-litre petrol costs over Rs 100 now because of various cess levied by the Centre after 2014. This is not only affecting two-wheeler and four-wheeler owners but it has triggered an adverse impact on road transportation which has led to rising in prices of essential commodities too,” mentioned Panda.

The protestors mentioned the rise in gas value will result in a hike in bus fares, a rise within the costs of chemical fertilizers and agriculture enter prices, amongst others.

During the bandh, no main untoward incident was reported in Odisha. Protests have been additionally carried out in different places – Cuttack, Berhampur, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the per litre petrol worth stood at Rs 102.42 and per litre diesel was bought for Rs 98.01 in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The specialists have attributed the steep rise in gas costs to a rise in excise responsibility by the Centre and value-added tax by the State Government.