Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged opposition-ruled states to follow the Centre’s decision by reducing taxes on petrol and diesel to provide relief to the people from the price hike. “In order to reduce the burden of rising petrol and diesel prices, the Central government reduced the excise duty last November. We had urged the states too to reduce their taxes. Some states reduced the tax and provided benefits to the consumers but some didn’t do so,” said PM Modi. Naming opposition ruled states, PM Modi said, “Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu did not follow the advice of Central government and people in these states are burdened with price rise.”
“I request these states to do now what they should have done in November. By reducing the VAT you can lower the burden faced by the residents,” he added. PM Modi made these comments during his interactions with Chief Ministers of several states over rising cases of Covid-19. The Central government in November had reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively. Following the Centre’s decision, 25 states and Union Territories, mostly ruled by BJP or their allies had reduced VAT on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers.
However, this led to a war or words, with Opposition leaders from non-BJP ruled states on Wednesday questioning the Prime Minister on his appeal to states to reduce VAT on fuel prices. Congress leader Deepender S. Hooda, said, “Haryana has the highest VAT on petrol-diesel. Fuel prices are increased if price rises in international markets but when wheat prices increase internationally, farmers don’t get increased MSP on it. The Centre is evading from its duty on the fuel-price hike.”
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, in a tweet, said, “Making a COVID meeting about politics! The central government has earned 26 lakh crore out of central excise on fuel, which increased 18 times even when oil prices hit rock bottom. The GST share to states still owed… compensation component to states done away with… and now pointing fingers.”
Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council should bring petrol, diesel, and LPG under the goods and services tax ambit.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “Today, in the price of one litre of diesel in Mumbai, Rs 24.38 is for the Centre and Rs 22.37 is for the state. In petrol price, 31.58 paise is central tax and 32.55 paise state tax. Therefore, it is not a fact that petrol and diesel have become more expensive due to the state.”
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday said, “The BJP ruled states had reduced the taxes on petrol and diesel months before which had benefitted the common man. The tax collection was reduced and the states had to bear the loss of crores of rupees, but the BJP-ruled states gave benefits to the people. But the Opposition only looks at the Centre but does not reduce the taxes in their own states. What is the reason? Don’t they want to benefit the people who have voted them to power?”
Meanwhile, due to the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases in India, Prime Minister Modi chaired a Covid-19 review meeting on Wednesday with the Chief Ministers and senior officials of all the states. Following the meeting, PM Modi asked the authorities to stay alert as the pandemic was not over yet, along with administering vaccines to children and following Covid-19 protocols in all public places. PM Modi also asserted that the sub-variants of Omicron continue to threaten the country. It is evident to work as per the suggestions by the scientists and experts, and there is a strong need for the implementation of the strategy of “Test, Track, and Treat” equally. He also suggested that in recent circumstances, 100% of RT-PCR tests be conducted on patients showing the signs of influenza. PM Modi also stated that health infrastructure had greatly improved as a result of the cooperative efforts between the Centre and the states, and staffing should also be scaled up at medical colleges and district hospitals.
“In the third wave, none of the states saw the situation going out of control. This should be seen in the context of the massive vaccination drive. The vaccine reached each and every person and it is a matter of pride that 96% adult population is vaccinated with at least one dose and about 84% of people above 15 years of age have received both doses. Vaccine, as per experts is the biggest safeguard against corona,” he said. The Prime Minister also mentioned the Emergency Use Authorization given to Covaxin for the vaccination of 6 to 12 years’ age group of children and said that the priority should be to vaccinate eligible children at the earliest. “In March, the campaign to vaccinate 12-14 years of age was started and only yesterday, permission has been granted for Covaxin vaccine for 6-12-year-old children. Our priority is to vaccinate all eligible children at the earliest. For this, as before, special campaigns will also be needed in schools. Teachers and parents should be aware about this,” PM Modi said. “Precautionary dose is available for all adults in the country to strengthen the vaccine protective shield. Teachers, parents, and other eligible people can take the precautionary dose,” he added.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that with increasing temperature, fire incidents in forests and buildings are increasing. He specially asked for the fire safety audits of the hospitals. PM Modi said that the “arrangements for meeting this challenge should be comprehensive and our response time should be the minimum”.
WITH INPUTS FROM TANMAYA DAS AND AGENCIES.