Madhya Pradesh Minister on Inflation, Fuel Price Hike

Amid a sharp rise in the rates of fuel, Madhya Pradesh minister and BJP leader Mahendra Singh Sisodia on Sunday asked people to be practical and accept a little inflation if their income is going up, saying the government cannot provide everything for free. The minister also said the consumption of fuel has gone up as every member of the family is now using a vehicle unlike in earlier days.

“Public should understand that if our income is increasing then we will have to accept some inflation. It’s a practical thing,” Sisodia told a press conference here.

The Panchayat and Rural Development Minister was replying to a question on why can’t the state government provide relief to the common people by slashing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel.

“The government cannot give everything (to citizens) for free. The government gets revenue from tax collection on petroleum products and this is spent on welfare schemes and developmental works,” he said. Sisodia said people cannot say that the prices of petrol and diesel should remain the same as they used to be ten years ago even though monthly salaries of people have gone up from Rs 6,000 to Rs 50,000.

The minister said the income of all the sections of society has gone up during the past few years. “Earlier, there used to be only one motorcycle in the family for the father (head of the household). Now every person in our home uses a vehicle so the consumption of petrol and diesel is increasing rapidly,” he said.

“Didn’t the inflation go up in the country during the tenure of previous Congress governments? Has it increased only under the Narendra Modi government? We have to accept that it is a continuous process, he said. Responding to a query, he said the shortage of DAP fertilisers will be sorted out within a week.

Talking about holding long-pending Panchayat elections in Madhya Pradesh, Sisodia said these elections were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then due to some legal hurdles. He said the state government is determined to hold these elections at the earliest.

Sisodia said the state government has developed a mobile phone application for the international marketing of the products prepared by the Self Help Groups (SHGs). These SHGs will also be helped by marketing their products on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, he said.

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