Kerala - Kochi   

Fuel price hike draws widespread criticism

KOCHI: The fuel price hike announced by the Union government from the midnight of Wednesday has drawn strong protests from various organisations in the district.

The Ernakulam District Private Bus Operators’ Association has said that the increase in the price of diesel has left private bus operations unfeasible as the expenses incurred on operating a bus far exceeded the revenue earned from it.

The price hike, coming as it is at a time when the employees were being paid higher wages and the price of spare parts showing no downward trend, has dealt a big blow to the private bus operators, a release issued jointly by the association president K.A. Makkarkunju and its secretary M.B. Satyan said. Besides, the price hike was likely to reflect in the prices of spare parts, creating further hardships for the operators, they said.

The association called for restoring the bus fare that was slashed when fuel prices were reduced.

The Ernakulam District Motor Thozhilali Sangham affiliated to the BMS said the hike would result in soaring of prices of essential commodities. The BMS took out a protest march in the city demanding rollback of the fuel price hike. It has called for protest programmes across the district on Friday.

The district secretary of the AITUC-affiliated Ernakulam District Autorickshaw Drivers’ Federation, Joy Joseph, in a statement said that the price hike would particularly hit autorickshaw passengers and employees hard. A situation has evolved whereby it would not be possible for autorickshaw employees to survive without effecting an increase in the fare.

He said that in the past one year alone the price of spare parts had increased by 70 per cent, while the price of engine oil had almost doubled.

He said the federation would organise strong protest programmes against the fuel price hike.

Mr. Joseph said that an emergency meeting of the federation would be held on July 6 to discuss holding a token strike demanding rollback of the price.

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