AMN / New Delhi
Attacking the NDA government at the Centre for its inept handling of the economy, the Congress Friday expressed concern over the grave economic situation in the country and called for drastic measures to boost growth.
Addressing media here , AICC spokesperson Kapil Sibal charged the government with putting huge burden of taxes on the common man and the poor sections of society.
‘The NDA government is burdening the common man with a huge burden of taxes. An example of this is the huge excise duty levied by the government on petroleum products. On petrol, diesel and cooking gas, the government is looting the public and earning a lot of money.
‘The prices of Petrol should be Rs 31 per litre on the basis of price of crude oil in the international market, but the government is selling it at the rate of Rs 79 and is making a profit of Rs 48 on one litre. Similarly, oil companies are being benefited by not reducing the prices of diesel.
The ones who are impacted by the decision are the people who travel on motorbikes or the farmers who are bearing the brunt of the huge increase in prices of petrol and diesel despite the international crude oil prices being at a record low,’ Mr Sibal said. He said that the increase in the price of petroleum products has had a cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities such as oil, pulses, salt, jaggery, sugar and tea which has skyrocketed .
‘The train fares have been increased, even the rate of cancellation of railway ticket has been doubled. The prices of vegetables have sharply increased and it is difficult for the common man to buy vegetables from the market,’ he said. On the statement by BJP leaders and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that taxes were necessary to finance infrastructure projects, Mr Sibal said, ‘One per cent of the people in this country own 58 per cent of the wealth. If at all you have to levy taxes, why don’t you do on these one per cent of the India’s population. Why burden the common man.
‘If you look at the country, you will find that the only people who are doing well are those associated with digital networks, which are run by corporates . While benefitting these people, the government is putting burden on the common man.’ Describing the handling of the economy by the government as ‘inept’, Mr Sibal said, ‘According to figures by the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank credit rate in the recent quarter was 5 per cent, the lowest in the country’s history in the past nearly 60 years.’ Asked if the Congress would demand a White paper from the government on the state of the economy, Mr Sibal said that it was no longer needed as the situation is in front of everyone. ‘In three years of this government, the state of the economy has deteriorated. Drastic measures are needed to provide a boost to the economy. The writing is on the wall,’ he said