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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made a fervent appeal to the Left parties to understand the government’s compulsions in hiking the prices of petroleum products.
Speaking to mediapersons on board the flight to The Hague in the Netherlands where he will be attending the Fifth Indo-European Union summit, Singh said that the government needed to protect the interests of oil PSUs.
‘‘You cannot kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,’’ he said, adding that the oil PSUs were some of the brightest jewels in the public sector. The government must see to it that they function profitably, he said.
Referring to the demands to cut duties on oil, he said that tax adjustments can be made only upto a limit. The government cannot reduce duties beyond a point without causing irreparable damage to the exchequer. The tax rates cannot be tinkered with so often that the Budget itself becomes a casualty, he said. ‘‘Fiscal prudence is a must to ensure the credibility of our public finances.’’
The move to increase the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas was widely discussed within the government and with the Left parties. ‘‘The hike was a painful necessity. If the government had not raised the prices, it would have hurt the poor far more,’’ he said. Rising global crude oil prices were the biggest worry for the economy, he said, adding that India’s GDP will grow 6% plus despite its adverse impact.
A senior government functionary accompanying the PM said that the Left parties had not demanded a rollback of the decision to increase the prices of petroleum products. ‘‘This is a silver lining,’’ he said.
The decision to increase LPG cylinder prices by Rs 5 every month was, however, open-ended, the functionary said. The LPG price may be frozen after a couple of months, he said. This may placate the Left parties, he added. The PM said the government was framing the FDI policies keeping in mind the poor status of the country’s infrastructure.
