JAMMU, May 25: Mission Statehood President Sunil Dimple on Sunday led a protest rally against the repeated increase in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders. The protest was held on Janipur High Court Road in Jammu.
Addressing the protesters, Dimple alleged that the continuous rise in fuel prices has badly affected the budget of poor and middle-class families. He claimed that petrol and diesel prices have increased by around Rs 8 in the past few days, putting an additional burden on the public.
He said the hike in fuel prices would lead to an increase in transport and travelling costs besides pushing up prices of essential commodities, vegetables and grocery items.
Dimple appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Central Government, States and Union Territories to reduce expenditure by curtailing official luxuries. He urged ministers, MPs and MLAs to vacate government accommodations, reduce use of official vehicles and adopt austerity measures to help address the economic crisis.
He also appealed to ministers, MPs and MLAs of Jammu and Kashmir to deposit six months’ salaries in government treasuries and use two-wheelers for official movement.
Alleging shortage and black marketing of LPG cylinders, Dimple claimed that domestic cylinders were allegedly being sold at inflated prices in the black market. He said the rising prices of petrol, diesel and LPG have “broken the backbone” of poor people in Jammu and Kashmir.
Demanding immediate rollback of the increased prices, Dimple warned that Mission Statehood would intensify agitation if the Central Government failed to reduce fuel and LPG rates.
Among those present in the protest included Vipan, Dev Raj, Kala Kumar, Ram Kumar, Vicky, Jatinder Gupta, H.R. Gupta, Karan Pardan, Mintoo Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar and Nitin Saini, besides several traders and hoteliers.