CPI(M) opposes Parikh panel proposals

CPI(M) on Thursday strongly opposed Parikh commission's recommendation proposing hike in prices of petroleum products and demanded that the Centre should reject it immediately.

CPI(M) on Thursday strongly opposed Parikh commission's recommendation proposing hike in prices of petroleum products and demanded that the Centre should reject it immediately.

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"We are absolutely opposed to Parikh panel's recommendation and we ask the Centre to reject the proposal," CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat told reporters on the first day of the party's central committee meeting here.

A Prime Minister-appointed expert group, headed by economist Kirit Parikh, had yesterday suggested in its report to free the pricing of petrol and diesel from government control and called for a steep hike in LPG cylinder prices by Rs 100 and kerosene by Rs 6 a litre.

Karat said the recommendation, if accepted, would have a cascading effect on the country's economy.

"We hope that the Centre will have good sense to reject the recommendation. At a time, when the government is prepared to lower prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), it is not ready to reduce petroleum prices," she noted.

She said the diesel price hike would have an adverse effect on farmers. "It will also have negative impact on floor price. So government should reject the recommendation immediately".