The NDA government at the centre has hiked the price of diesel by a whopping 40% on the plea that it has merely followed the principle of linkage with international price of diesel. Let us look at what the Vajpayee government did during 1998-99 which was first a full year after the parity principle was laid down in September ’97. Despite the international price of diesel keeping low for major part of the year, prices to consumers were not reduced proportionately. The government thus generated huge surplus about which there is not even a whisper. Not only that in the budget for 1999-2000 presented on 28^th February ’99, the Finance Minister levied an additional duty of Rs. 1/- per litre on imported and domestic diesel.

So when the international price is low or "soft", put an extra burden of Rs. 1/- per litre. When the price is high, burden again in the name of "import parity" and who suffers most – of course not the CII, FICCI and others – but the common man because of the rampant inflation, caused by such a rise in view of wide spread use of diesel viz. Transport, power etc. Burden the poor and spare the rich that is what an "equitable method of resource mobilisation" means to the present government Chicanery at its best.

25th October, 1999.