Jamshedpur : District Congress on Friday criticised the BJP-led state government for raising Value Added Tax (VAT) on the petrol and diesel and impose one rupee cess per litre on the fuel.
A delegation of Congress Party led by senior Congress leader SRA Rizwi Chabban handed a memorandum addressed to the Governor was handed over to Deputy Commissioner. District president Vijay Khan and senior leader Anand Bihari Duney were also present on the occasion.
Chabban said that the decision to hike VAT on petrol and diesel is anti-people and inflationary. He said that the decision will have a negative effect on the prices of essential commodities and will be blow on the people. Chabban said that instead of bringing the promise of ‘achhe din’, the BJP government is making fool of the people.
The memorandum demanded an immediate roll-back of the hike. He said the hike would put additional burden on the people of state despite the fact that there has been a decline in the prices of petroleum products in the international market.
Prices of petrol and diesel have increased in Jharkhand after the state government decided to raise VAT and impose one rupee cess per litre on the fuel to mop up additional revenue.
As per the Cabinet decision of Sunday, VAT on petrol has increased from 20 per cent to 22 per cent and on diesel from 18 per cent to 22 per cent, besides the cess.