CPI (M) demands rollback of petroleum prices

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM Sunday warned of a state-wide strike if the Centre failed to rollback prices of petroleum products and fix the LPG cylinder quota at least to 12 per family in a year.

"The UPA at the Centre while doing away with subsidy on LPG and other goods, is sanctioning huge concessions to corporates in the country," CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here.

The lives of people have become miserable due to price rise of essential commodities as a consequence to the hike in petroleum products and shortage of LPG cylinders, he said.

As part of the agitation, CPI-M activists would hold a protest march to LPG bottling plants in the state and to LPG cylinder distributing agencies on October 10.

He alleged that both the governments at the Centre and state were neglecting the problems of the people.

Stating that there was no justification for hike in price of petrol and diesel, Vijayan pointed out that all Oil Companies have registered huge profits last year.

Profit of ONGC was Rs 25,123 crore while IOC's was Rs 4,265 crores, HPCL's Rs 911 crore and Bharat Petroleum Rs 1,516 crore, he said. 'What is the need for price hike as the oil companies are making profit', he asked.

The total tax revenue from the petroleum sector to the government last year stood at Rs 2.25 lakh crore, he said.

'If government is getting a huge amount as tax from the sector, what prevents the government from providing a certain subsidy to the common man?” he asked.

On the ongoing dharna by women members of Kudumbashree Protection Samithi in front of the secretariat, Pinarayi said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy should take the initiative to resolve the strike.

He demanded an impartial probe into the financial dealings of Micro Fin Corporation formed by Janashree Mission, a pro-congress organisation.

An attempt was underway to throttle the functioning of Kudumbashree, a women self-help group carrying out poverty alleviation programmes, he said.

Janashree Mission is an organisation floated by the part of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Pinarayi also wanted government to withdraw sanction of Rs 114 crore to Janashree Mission, run by Congress spokesman M M Hassan and alleged that the amount was sanctioned floating norms.