Huge rise in petrol and diesel prices has hit all segments of people hard in Guwahati (Assam) and have left them “seething with fury”. The spontaneous rise in petrol and diesel prices has got the goat of the people.
As per reports, from September 1 to September 11 last, excluding September 5, petrol price has been hiked by an average of approximate Rs 0.1 while diesel price has been hiked by Rs 0.31 in Guwahati. On September 11 last, petrol price was hiked to Rs 83.26 by a margin of Rs 0.06 and diesel price to Rs 76.29 by a margin of Rs 0.06 in Guwahati.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
On September 5 last, petrol price had gone down to Rs 81.78 by a margin of Rs 0.24 while diesel price had gone down to Rs 74.70 by a margin of Rs 0.23. Though people all over the country, including political parties, have been lodging strong protests against the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities including fuel, the Government seems to be “unmoved” over the whole situation. No significant fall in prices have been noticed.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) also staged a protest against price hike on Monday as a part of the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) call for nationwide bandh which threw normal life out of gear across Assam.
Talking to Northeast Now, people from all walks of life in Guwahati expressed “great disappointment” with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government at the Centre and State (read Assam) for not being able to “keep prices under control”.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) chief advisor Dr Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya said, “The Government is torturing the common people by hiking the prices of essential commodities and fuel. It should come out with an immediate policy to control price rise.”
Meanwhile, the APCC president Ripun Bora, while condemning the BJP-led Government’s ‘failure’ in controlling price hike, demanded on Monday that the Government bring fuel under Goods and Services Tax (GST). The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Jayanta Kumar Sarma, while commenting on spontaneous hike in fuel prices, said, “The Government might need the excess amount collected from this continuous price hike to announce sops and dream schemes for the forthcoming elections.”
Rupjyoti Saikia, a youth from Guwahati, said, “The BJP had staged a strong protest wearing onion garlands protesting against steep rise in price of onions during Congress rule in Assam and now Congress is doing the same. It is all about revenge politics and at the receiving end are the common people who are paying through their noses to bring food on the table. The political parties are least interested about the plight of the common people and just have an eye on the throne and an axe to grind against each other.”