The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) condemns in the strongest of words the enormous increase of Rs 220 in the market price of LPG cylinders. It is the third and by far the steepest increase in the last one month. The UPA Government has already dealt a huge blow to ordinary people last year by suddenly curtailing the number of “subsidized” LPG cylinders per connection to 6, which it then increased to 9 per year after huge public protests, particularly by women. However, for many families who depend on LPG as a clean and efficient fuel, 9 cylinders are highly inadequate. Many households have to resort to buying the expensive cylinders, which adds to the already high burden of the ever increasing prices of other essential commodities. The implementation of the Direct Cash Transfer Scheme in several districts has already resulted in many households having to shell out more money because the market price has been steadily increasing while the amount of subsidy remains fixed at Rs. 430 per cylinder.
The increase is, as usual, being justified on grounds that the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are facing “losses” on account of increasing prices of crude oil and the depreciation of the rupee. It is now well known that these losses are purely notional since they are based on the totally fraudulent method of calculating the domestic price of LPG on the basis of the price of imported LPG. The fact is that the OMCs are making huge profits which are clearly reflected in their balance sheets.
The government is also trying to pass it off as a decision of the OMCs. It is quite clear that the OMCs are not independent, and are known to have, in the past, deferred such increases on the instructions of the government, especially at the time of elections. Further, the OMCs are insisting on UID Aadhaar linkage in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court has clearly said that Aadhaar has no legal basis and cannot be made mandatory, obviously under pressure from the UPA government.
It appears that the ruling Congress led UPA government has not learnt any lessons after the drubbing it has received in the recent Assembly elections, and continues to implement anti-people measures. AIDWA calls upon all its units to immediately launch strong protest actions across the country. We demand that the price increases should be immediately withdrawn, the number of LPG cylinders sold at administered prices increased to at least 12 per year, and the illegal compulsion of Aadhaar to avail of the subsidy be immediately stopped.
