Measures sought to check price rise of items

A CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The APCC (Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee) has again slammed BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-led State and Central governments for ''the unprecedented price hikes in fuel, LPG and other essential commodities".

Speaking to the reporters, APCC general secretary Toko Mina said that ''the increasing the prices of essential commodities is creating economic depression in the State.

"People are helpless, and many are jobless. But, the BJP government keeps on increasing the taxes on essential commodities," she said, while appealing to the State government to reduce the VAT on essential commodities.

The deduction in VAT on essential commodities will lower economic burden on the common public, especially in this pandemic period when the economy as a whole and the Health sector are passing through a crisis phase, she added.

Mina also informed that the APCC had submitted a representation to the President of India through the Governor to reduce the taxes on essential commodities.

"During INC government in 2014, the Excise Duty on Petrol was Rs 9.20 but now it has skyrocketed to Rs 32.9, Excise Duty on Diesel was Rs 3.36. But now, it is Rs 31.1 -- a huge hike," she said.

While appealing to the State government to at least reduce the VAT in the State to provide some relief to the common people, she said that according to the report, the VAT on petrol is 20% and that on diesel is 12.5% in the State.

"Now the prices of petrol and diesel is almost touching the 100 mark. So to relieve the burden of the common public, VAT should be reduced up to 10-15 percent," she said.

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