Strongly condemning the decision to hike parcel and luggage rates by 25 per cent on all goods with immediate effect, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday asked the Centre to withdraw it at once.
“At a time when the people are struggling hard to cope with the recent increase in the freight charges and petrol price, the hike in parcel and luggage rates has added insult to injury,” she said in a statement here.
Jayalalithaa said goods such as tyres, newspapers, magazines, medicines, pulses and flour varieties were transported through trains. As such, the Centre should withdraw the hike at once as it would harm the poor and middle class people who transport goods through railway parcel service.
Jayalalithaa said the Congress-led UPA government, where the DMK was a constituent partner, had very recently hiked the freight charges by 25 per cent to net a revenue of Rs 20,000 crore. Through this measure, the Centre had paved the way for inflation and rise in prices of essential commodities.
Later, the Centre had also effected an unprecedented hike of Rs 7.50 per litre of petrol, later reducing it by Rs 2.