By Ayushi Singh
Source: New Indian Express
“Pump prices of petrol and diesel have reached historical highs,”
-Shaktikant Das (RBI Governor) noted in the Monetary Policy Committee.
Remember when in 2012, Narendra Modi raised questions on the then incumbent regime on the hike of petrol price. He directly blamed the Manmohan government, but now the opinion of our “superhero Prime Minister” is changed. The recent surge of petrol and diesel prices which is mulcting the pockets of citizens is not due to the rise of prices in the international market but is due to the taxes imposed by the government. To justify the action, the government has put a twofold rationale.
First, the government is authorized to levy taxes according to article 256 of the constitution. The cardinal principle of imposing tax is that the government needs money for administration. Well if that is the case, let’s first try to understand the sources of government’s revenue. There are a number of companies which are owned by the government- the PSUs. These undertakings are present in every sector and usually, that’s why the government is so heavily dependent on the tax system. The reason is many of them are not investing their efforts, time and resources to expand their operations. No expansion is possible without marketing and well, how many of you have seen the advertisements of Air India or BSNL to maximize their reach? These Public Sector Undertakings lack in effort. The officials working do not hold much accountability, in case of losses. The penultimate result of this whole cycle is burdening citizens with taxes.
Second, if the central government does not levy taxes on petrol and diesel, it will give state governments elbow-room to impose tax and thus, the central government does not need to hold that “high moral ground”. Disclaimer- this is not my opinion, and obviously my opinion doesn’t matter, after all the common man’s views if does not synchronize with government’s may probably land one behind the bars! But this is what our Finance Minister, Ms Sitharaman has to say about the tax imposition on fuel prices. I just have a question- is this the reason why fuels are doubly taxed? Is this any competition where, before the state fines the taxpayers, the central should do so!
In addition to the above justifications, instead of taking the responsibility, the government is trying to deflect it. During the inauguration of Oil & Gas project in Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister though addressed the issue but blamed the previous governments for the same. According to him, the previous governments did not take appropriate measures and tried to develop indigenous alternatives, therefore the current situation is the result. Well the Modi government has been in power for the last 7 years and in this time frame no significant measures have been taken for what the Prime Minister is blaming the previous regimes.
Source: Republic World
It is important to understand that the hike in petrol and diesel prices does not majorly affect the ones travelling in their Lamborghinis but the common citizens. Those middle-class families who have to plan before going for a single outing or those auto drivers whose major earnings get burned down with the fuel in their engines- are the ones who are getting affected. It is high time that the Centre understand that the administration cannot be run on the whims and fancies of the government. That the promise of “Acche Din” is not only about building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya or making a new parliament, but providing dignified life to common man.
Source: Medium
