The Goa unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) organised a protest dharna at Kranti Circle, KTC bus stand, Panaji, demanding the immediate roll-back of the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
The CPI-M has pointed out that since last four years the UPA -2 regime of Manmohan Singh in its ruthless pursuit of neoliberal economic policies had dismantled the administered price mechanism and had introduced deregulation of oil prices as per international oil prices. Accordingly with rising oil prices, the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG had steadily increased in India increasing the financial burden on the frail shoulders of the common man. However since June 2014 international oil prices have steadily fallen from dollars 120 per barrel to less than $50 per barrel. Accordingly by the very same neoliberal logic of Manmohan's UPA-2 which has been heartily endorsed and even more ruthlessly implemented by the BJP, the prices of petrol which were about Rs. 60/- in Goa in June 2014 should have come down to Rs. 25 per litre in January 2015. Instead the price of petrol is about Rs. 53 in the market. In other words the common man is being looted to the extent of Rs. 28 per litre. This huge loot is only partly going into the government treasury while the major part of the loot is going into the pockets of the private oil companies including the Reliance oil company of the Ambanis. The CPI-M has demanded that the BJP governments at the Centre and in Goa should immediately roll back petrol, diesel and LPG prices, so that the common man is benefitted. The CPI-M has further demanded that the various reliefs schemes of the government should be funded not by increasing VAT or Excise duties on petroleum products but by increasing taxes on the rich people. Sd/- (Thalmann P . Pereira) Secretary, Goa State Organizing Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
