STEEP HIKE IN LPG HITS COMMON MAN’S POCKET: WIM NEW DELHI, 18th Dec 2020: Women India Movement, (WIM), has castigated the Union Government for the hike in prices of non-subsidised Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders which have been substantially raised across the major cities in India. It is shame on this anti-common people government, WIM said.WIM’S national president Mrs. Mehrunisa Khan in a statement blamed the government of being insensitive to the woes of the common man and demanded an immediate rollback of the hike in price of LPG cylinders. Mrs. Khan condemned the government over the issue, saying the profit-seeking BJP government was assaulting the budget of the common man. She said in ‘these Acche Din (good days)’ the price of LPG gas has been raised twice by Rs. 100 in the past 15 days. This has not just upset the monthly budget of families but has also brought about a huge pain for the middle class, for the poor, for the lower-middle class, who are finding it extremely difficult to buy gas cylinders, she said.This government has raised prices of petrol and diesel too. There is huge taxation there. This government in its tenure so far and its first and second tenure has increased excise duty almost a dozen times and has earned about Rs. 22 lakh crores, Mrs. Khan alleged. She said that it is time the government brings some relief to the common man, because the common man today is reeling under economic slowdown, joblessness and wage cuts due to mismanagement of the Indian economy during the lockdown. Mrs. Khan pointed out that anybody who understands economics will understand and will know that to spur up consumption; you will have to lower prices, especially in an economy like ours where consumption forms 60 per cent of our GDP. If you do not spur consumption, no economy can recover; we are already in a recession.The statement said: “The Central government has imposed 103% excise duty on petrol and diesel, and the state government has levied 38% per litre. Approximately five crore consumers suffering from hiked prices have not received no subsidy in their bank accounts for eight consecutive months”. So, WIM urges and hopes that the government will respond to the needs of the common man, to the needs of the poor people, to the needs of the women, who have to manage their kitchens, and roll back the LPG price hike that has happened because Rs. 100 per cylinder is a very-very steep hike.Mrs. Khan asked the government to provide some respite and said this will only happen if the Centre rolls back the hike in prices of LPG cylinders. It may be mentioned here that since May this year, most cooking gas customers have not received subsidies as the combination of international oil price collapse and domestic refill rate increases brought parity between subsidized and market rates.