KOCHI: Terming the first year of the Modi Government in power as ‘an year of broken promises’, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson P C Chacko alleged that the BJP Government was plundering the people by hiking the fuel price disproportionately.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke all his promises, including the one on bringing back the black money parked in foreign banks within 100 days after assuming power. He also famously promised the farmers that his government would maintain remunerative prices at 50 per cent more than the input cost. The distressed farmers in the country are not even properly compensated for the crop destruction,” Chacko said at a press conference here on Saturday.
Criticising the government for hiking the fuel prices indiscriminately, the AICC spokesperson opined that considering the current crude oil price in the international market, diesel could be sold at Rs 37 per litre and petrol at Rs 46 per litre. “In the past six months, the government has earned Rs 90,000 crore as Excise duty on fuel, while the oil companies made profit to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore. Since Modi assumed power, crude oil prices fell by 34 per cent. But, it did not trickle down to benefit the people as the reduction in petrol and diesel prices was just 7 per cent,” he added.
Blaming the BJP Government for the spike in farmer suicides, P C Chacko traced its reason to the policies that cut agriculture support schemes. The growth of the agriculture sector dropped to just 1.1 per cent. He demanded that the government freeze the Dr B Meenakumari Committee report on deep-sea fishing and recommendations of the expert panel on the uniform fishing ban that elicited widespread protest among the fisherfolk in the State.