No relief for commuters as fuel prices hit an all-time high

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, May 21

Commuters of the town are feeling the heat of the ‘inflated’ bills and have criticised the Modi government for the hike in fuel prices. The rate of petrol in the district is as high as Rs 81.83/Ltr whereas that of diesel is recorded at Rs 67.53/Ltr.

The hike in prices has come as a major blow to people in spite of the regular fluctuation in petrol and diesel prices for months. Petrol price touched a record high and diesel climbed to its highest ever level of Rs 67.57 as the PSUs passed on four weeks of the relentless rise in international oil prices to consumers.

Expressing their anger, commuters asked the government to bring down prices of petrol and also requested to reduce excise duty and use other measures. “The prices were already so high, and every fourth day there is a hike but this time the price of petrol touching Rs 81.83/litre is too much and unaffordable,” said a commuter, Mansi, who was spotted standing at the petrol pump in Ajeet Chowk.

Another commuter said, “Why are prices so high in the state, when it is comparatively lower in Gujarat and Delhi? It is tough for those who have to travel every day. We shell out Rs 100 to 150 for petrol regularly.”

People were also seen expressing their anger on the social media platforms. A wide array of jokes, memes and videos were being used to criticise the government.

Meanwhile, this is the fourth time in the past 10 days that the price of petrol had surged. On May 1, the price of the petrol was Rs 79.83/Ltr, however on May 15 it was Rs 80.16 and on Monday it has been recorded at Rs 81.83.

“People elected the BJP government expecting that it would provide some relief, but things are going contrary to their expectations, instead of fulfilling their promises, it has started crushing the poor and middle class sections of society by hiking the price of most essential commodities, be it pulses, fuel or among others, said, Manmeet Kaur, a resident of Industrial area.

Monty Sehgal, from the Petrol Pump Dealers Association of Punjab over the hike in rates said, “Now that the Karnataka elections have taken place, the fuel prices have been hiked.”

Talking about the cost of fuel costlier in state as compared to other states he said, “We have been fighting since long against the high VAT tax laid on fuels by the state government. The government should take some step at the earliest to finish this disparity in rates,” he added.