(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Parties which are demanding a roll-back of the decision include the trinamool congress the bahujan samaj party and the cpi.
protests were held in delhi kerala uttar pradesh and several other parts of the country as opposition parties including the congress the left parties and the samajwadi party reacted angrily to the narendra modi’s decision to hike railway passenger fares and freight rates and demanded a roll-back.
in the capital police used water cannons to disperse the protesters who were led by delhi congress chief arvinder singh lovely. “if they cannot control inflation they should at least not make it worse by taking such steps” he said.
in kerala protests were held in ernakulam trivandrum and other places.
samajwadi party workers staged protests at kanpur allahabad and varanasi modi’s constituency among other places in uttar pradesh and also tried to block trains before police dispersed them. in tamil nadu chief minister j jayalalithaa and dravida munnettra kazhagam (dmk) leader m karunanidhi demanded a rollback of the rate hikes. protests were also held in west bengal and orissa. parties which are demanding a roll-back of the decision include the trinamool congress the bahujan samaj party and the cpi.
the narendra modi government had on friday in its first major decision on the economic front hiked railway passenger fares by 14.2 per cent and freight rates by 6.5 per cent with effect from june 25.
the decision had in fact been taken by the previous government and announced on may 16 the day of counting of votes in the elections to the lok sabha. but then railways minister mallikarjun kharge had directed the railways to keep the decision pending and to place it before the new government for taking a view in the matter.
opposition parties criticised the move pointing out in particular that the fares had been hiked just days before railways minister d v sadananda gowda is due to present the railway budget in parliament in early july.
modi had said last week that the government would need to take some unpleasant decisions and tough action to put the economy back on track and expressed confidence that the people of the country would support such steps as they would be in the national interest.
according to the decision there will be a flat 5 per cent increase in freight rates and an additional increase of 1.4 per cent on account of fuel adjustment component (fac) which was due since april 2014. the overall increase in freight rates will be 6.5 per cent approximately for major commodities.
in the case of passenger fares there will be a flat 10 per cent increase in all classes. there will be no increase upto the minimum distance for charge. in addition there will be an increase of 4.2 per cent in fares on account of fac.
the congress has said that the hike would have a “devastating effect” on the common man. “less than 30 days after assuming office narendra modi’s government has slapped the highest ever passenger rail fare hike on the people of india” congress general secretary ajay maken told newspersons.
“this comes a time when we are fearing a bad monsoon and there is a conflict in iraq that is causing crude oil prices to rise worldwide” he said. maken said the hike would have a direct impact on the price of coal which would in turn make electricity more expensive. “the hike in freight charges will lead to an increase in prices of fruits and vegetables. the government’s decision will cause a direct increase in inflation and we strongly condemn this” he said.
maken also quoted from what modi had written on his website when the congress-led united progressive alliance government had raised rail prices on march 7 2012 and wondered what he had to say on the issue now.
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