1st Mar 2021 11:03:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

The first day of March has been shocking for the middle class across the length and breadth of the country as prices of LPG touched a record new high. There has been a procession of ‘shocks’ for the last one month that became a routine over the last few days with the unstoppable forward march of petrol and diesel prices. With the prospect getting stronger that the first will cross the century mark (already it’s so in few states) nation-wide and the latter to follow suit, there’s now an overwhelming fear that Rs 1000 mark for LPG is just a matter of time. The ready-made explanation that it’s all due to ‘market forces’ will now be parroted by the ruling dispensation at the Centre and the states under their rule will also maintain stoic silence. How convenient it’s now to wash off the responsibility of shielding the masses and overlooking their financial pains. That it’s now a testing time for over 90% of the country’s populace in meeting both ends after the pandemic’s ravage of the economy that has caused far-reaching damage to livelihoods has been totally forgotten.
While in the national capital the price chart showed Rs 819 on Monday after an increase of Rs 25, talking about the cross-country picture, it’s not less than this and somewhere even close to Rs 850. Even if all attention is now converged on the February figures of LPG prices when there was a hat-trick in hike, it was actually from December last year the trend became prominent. Price of a non-subsidised cylinder shot up from Rs 594 to Rs 644 on December 1 and within a fortnight with a further rise of  Rs 50 it touched Rs 694. For a common household, while there is an alternative of curtailing the rides of self-owned vehicles as a measure of evading fuel price rise, in case of LPG there is no substitute. It must also have been in the notice of all households who are now the ‘suffering class’ that subsidies on LPG, over the last six months have been curtailed silently. A year and a half ago, when it ranged roughly from Rs 150-250, it’s now hardly over Rs 25 per cylinder, which means that the salubrious financial effect of enjoying 12 subsidised cylinders a year is effectively near-nil. The annual budget for 2021-22 FY has made a drastic cut of LPG subsidies from Rs 35,605 crore in 2020-21 FY to Rs 12,480 crore, a minus of Rs 25,520.79 crore! It’s an obvious indicator then that the plan of eliminating LPG subsidies is under implementation and is being done only in a gradual manner.
There are no hints there will be any immediate reversal. All election promises are now shelved and it’s time to get prepared for more pain. 


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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