Chandigarh, Aug 26 (IANS) Hundreds of Punjab Congress workers on Wednesday staged a protest against the rising prices of sugar in the country and blamed it on the wrong policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government.
The protesters were led by State Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
Protesters also served tea without sugar, in a symbolic message that sugar had now become unaffordable for the common man.
Speaking on the occasion, Warring said the Narendra Modi government’s policies had contributed to a sharp rise in the prices of essential food items, saying inflation had now engulfed the entire household kitchen and was placing an increasing burden on ordinary consumers.
Quoting data, the State Congress President said that retail and wholesale sugar prices had increased by around 40 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year, with the increase reaching up to 50 per cent in some states.
Sugar prices had crossed Rs 65 per kg in eight states, Warring added.
The State Congress President attributed the situation to flawed government policies on sugar exports and ethanol production.
He said that over the past three months, sugar prices had risen from Rs 48 to Rs 67 per kg, while jaggery prices had increased from Rs 50 to Rs 65 per kg.
“First exports, then diversion for ethanol and now imports to control inflation,” Warring said, asking, “what kind of policy is this?”
Warring asked why repeated government intervention was required to control prices of essential commodities if the Union government’s economic and agricultural policies were successful.
He also linked rising food prices to the Union government’s E20 ethanol-blending policy, alleging that the policy was putting pressure on both household budgets and transport costs.
Warring also asked why petrol prices had not fallen despite the Union government’s claims that ethanol blending was generating savings.
He reminded the Central government that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had in 2018 projected that ethanol blending could provide significant relief in petrol and diesel prices, but said consumers continued to pay high prices for petrol.
He asked why flour, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, jaggery, onions and other essentials were becoming more expensive, while petrol prices had not declined despite the ethanol-blending policy.
–IANS
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