Diesel price hike: Common man pumped out

The recent increase in fuel price by Rs5 (Rs6.5 in Pune) has not gone down too well among Puneites. Also, putting a cap on the LPG cylinders has thrown a spanner in the aam aadmi’s budget. The government took the harsh step in order to rein in its fiscal deficit. Is passing the burden onto the public fair enough? Speak Up finds out

Politicians are pampered by tax payers’ money
The recent hike in the diesel price by Rs5 announced by the government has come as a real shocker for the public and more bad news is awaited as the market prices will escalate due to the spiral effect.

Already the prices of essential items are escalating day by day and it has become very difficult for the common man to manage the rising cost of living. The steep prices will be an additional burden on the common man. As a consequence of this hike, the public transport will soon get costly, which will in-turn affect the aam aadmi’s budget.

Not only he has to make provision for additional travel cost, but also day-to-day common commodities. Rather than going for diesel price hike, the government should have first cut down the budget of the politicians’ spendings, which are more on luxury than necessities. The money wasted on pampering the politicians and the luxuries they enjoy during their tenure are all funded by the taxes paid by the common man.
Santosh Khapare, Citizen

Price hike won’t affect prices of essential commodities
The recent diesel price hike has not affected the market in any way. If you talk about diesel sale at the petrol pumps, it has not gone down even by a litre.

The hike is not going to affect the prices of essential commodities as being perceived by the citizens. This is so because all the commercial vehicles, including buses, tempos etc. are running on CNG. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, all the commercial vehicles have to be converted to CNG.

Those who blame the diesel price increase and its spiral effect are the ones who are taking benefits of the same. In fact, the diesel price has nothing to do with the market scenario.

Even after the Rs5 hike in diesel price, the government is still making losses because it is a fuel which is still not decentralised. We are still getting diesel at subsided rates. The recent hike was necessary because the government is incurring a huge loss.
Ali Daruwala, Spokesperson, Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association

Govt is revenue-hungry and money is going into scams
The diesel price hike is a wrong move by the government. It should roll back the Rs5 hike and find some other solution to boost the economy.

For the last one year, the prices of essential commodities are rising like never before and the market rates are all on the upward spiral. The additional diesel price hike will definitely increase the cost of everything by 15-20% . The poor, middle class and upper middle class are surely going to feel the pinch of spiralling prices.

Even the LPG cooking gas limitations enforced by the government and doubling the price for additional requirement will hurt everyone financially. The move was unnecessary and not needed.

The government talks of offering subsidies on diesel and cooking gas and at the same time levies almost 50% tax on these products in the market, then what is the meaning of subsidising?

The government is just revenue- hungry and all the money is unfortunately getting channelised into the scams. The government always targets those commodities that directly hits the common man.
Mohan Bhaya, Senior Citizen

PMPL should not increase bus fares due to diesel price hike
I think a better solution would have been for the government to go for an objective-based subsidy on diesel fuel. The subsidies should be extended on diesel for the goods transport vehicles as they have a direct impact on the market prices. However, diesel cars, which is a luxury, don’t need any subsidies.

The government should seek IT support. It keeps making all these plans to boost the economy but at the end, the common man is never the beneficiary.

With the hike in diesel price their is no need for the city’s public transport system, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), to increase its bus fares.

Out of the 1,000 buses that PMPML has, 400 do not ply on the roads at any given time due to various reasons. Each plying bus brings in Rs9,000 every day and if these 400 buses are brought on the roads, it will help generate the additional income required by the PMPML. Increasing bus fares will be a suicidal attempt as the number of passengers using the public bus service will decrease and instead switch to using their own private vehicles.
Jugal Rathi, President, PMP Pravasi Manch

Cost of living is increasing but salaries are not
The market just needs a reason to increase the cost of their merchandise. The vegetable prices had increased drastically due to poor monsoon this year. With the recent diesel price hike, the vegetable vendors are already using it as an excuse to increase the vegetable prices all the more.

The cost of living is increasing but the salaries are not being matched. It has become very hard to manage the home budget. For the common man, the bigger fear is not of the actual fuel price hike but the effect of these hikes on the essential commodities.

The cost of vegetables, milk, cereals, cooking gas, bus fare etc. are very dear to a majority of people in India who belong to either the middle class or are poor. Any hike in prices of these commodities surely affects the life and living of the social classes.
Sonia Rane, Homemaker