BHOPAL: The prices of petrol and diesel continued to march ahead, making life of people miserable during the festive season.Diesel cost has gone up by Rs 1.28 since September 28 and that of petrol by Re 1 from September 28 to October 3. As a result, inflation is steadily going up.
People belonging to the middle class, mostly state government employees, said that the government seems to be least concerned about people problems. “There seems to be no end to our worries. With every hike in fuel rates, prices of other commodities also go up. Salaries on the other hand remain the same,” they said.
Venting their ire against politicians and bureaucrats, they said: “ None of them get their cars refueled from their pocket and hence they don’t feel the pain”. People have also started recommending the government “to curb its own expenses and reduce taxes on petrol and diesel.” The state gets about Rs 27.75 on every litre of petrol sold in Madhya Pradesh and this includes a cess of Rs 4.50, while it collects about Rs 18.75 on diesel, including Rs 3 cess.
In the last 12 months, the rates of petrol have gone up by Rs 24 a litre while that of diesel by about Rs 22. Vijay Dasgupta, a state government employee, said, “It would have been better if they brought the fuel under the GST regime. It would give some respite to the people.”
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