Pralhad Joshi accuses Karnataka government of burdening people with price hikes

Union Minister for Education, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi has accused the Congress government in Karnataka of burdening people with repeated price increases.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Joshi alleged that While the Congress government made tall claims about helping the people through the five guarantee schemes, it was actually snatching away the benefits with frequent price hikes.

“It is giving with one hand and cutting into people’s pockets with another hand,” he mocked.

The Union Minister alleged that the government had increased the prices of milk, petrol, diesel, bus fares, electricity, water and liquor, besides various taxes and fees at regular intervals over the past three years. “Petrol and diesel prices have been increased three times and bus fares twice,” he said, adding that the government had effected hike of 10% in water tariffs, 25% in sewerage charges, 20% in liquor prices and 50% in licence fees.

He claimed that increases in various taxes and charges were expected to generate an additional annual revenue of ₹60,000 crore for the government. The projected revenue included ₹6,000 crore from petrol and diesel price increases, ₹1,000 crore from bus fare revision, ₹3,712 crore from vehicle registration fees, ₹450 crore from metro fares and ₹5,000 crore from revisions in property guideline values.

Questioning the State government’s criticism of the Centre over inflation, Mr. Joshi alleged that the State was collecting additional revenue by imposing a financial burden on people. He also disputed the government’s claim that the increase in milk prices would benefit farmers, arguing that the benefits would not reach them.

Mr. Joshi said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was not a new exercise and had been conducted for decades, with technology now facilitating the process. He accused the Congress of spreading misinformation about the Election Commission’s procedures and creating confusion among voters.

He argued that the Congress had lost elections in several States even before the SIR exercise and questioned its attempts to attribute electoral defeats to the revision process.

On the allegations of excessive ethanol-blending in petrol, Mr. Joshi said the claim that ethanol constituted 31% of petrol was unfounded. He said the prevailing policy targeted 20% blending and cited test results claiming that 11 of 14 published samples were within the prescribed limits.

He said ethanol-blending would benefit sugarcane farmers and reduce dependence on imported petroleum. The revenue generated by sugar factories through ethanol sales should reach farmers, he added.