Amaravati: State, Centre flayed for escalation in prices

Amaravati: TDP MLA Anagani Satya Prasad on Saturday expressed concern that the general public were facing severe problems due to the unchecked rise in the prices of essential commodities in the State.

Satya Prasad said that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has no right to ask for votes in the Tirupati by-poll considering the manner in which it has imposed additional burden on the people in the past 2 years. There were no efforts to reduce the excise duty so as to provide a little relief to the common people.

In a statement here, the TDP MLA accused both the Central and the State governments of trying to collect higher taxes from the people who were already suffering on account of coronavirus lockdowns and price rise.

They were increasing their revenues by raising the rates of petrol, diesel, gas and the essential commodities. The YSRCP government was happy over the increase in the fuel prices as it would get more revenue from this.

Satya Prasad deplored that the cultivation of crops became very difficult because of the increased costs following rise in diesel prices. The Jagan Reddy regime was giving Rs 10,000 to the auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in the name of 'Vahana Mitra' programme.

However, larger amounts were being collected from them by imposing fines and filing cases. The drivers were finding it impossible to earn a comfortable living any more in the State.

The TDP leader recalled how the edible oil rates have also gone up with the palmolein and groundnut oil rates increasing by Rs 40 to Rs 60 per litre. The review of prices used to be every 15 days in the past but now it was changed to everyday. This has led to more burden on people.

The government should have cancelled collection of the additional VAT in order to protect the interests of the people but it was not doing that.

Satya Prasad reminded that the governments should take up responsibility to improve the living standards of the people but not to make them suffer. Raising revenue should not be the priority for any government. The general wellbeing and common good should play a bigger role. If there were no Central and State taxes, petrol would be available at just Rs 30 per litre.

The TDP leader said that the LPG refill rate has gone up from Rs 650 in November last year to Rs 820 now. The higher taxes were proving to be unbearable at a time when the people lost their incomes due to the pandemic.

If the YSRCP won in the Tirupati, it would just bend its head in the Parliament but not raise on the State issues, he said. The voters should realise that only the TDP would fight to protect the interests of the AP people.