A REPORTER
SHILLONG: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) Central Executive Committee has expressed concern regarding the price of fuel in the State. Petrol price has entered the 3-digit mark and diesel is being sold at Rs 92.65 per litre.
The council have also urged the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for the immediate intervention in the matter as it has greatly affected the public.
"As per our knowledge and information, the factors that influence the rise in prices of fuel in the country and in the State are crude oil, freight and processing charges to the dealer, excise duty by the Central government, dealer's commission to the gas station and value added tax levied by the State government," general secretary of HYC CEC Roy Kupar Synrem said.
He added that while International crude oil prices determine the cost of fuel in India, it is only one factor contributing to the rise in prices of petrol and diesel. The main reason for the hike in prices is the Central and State Government taxes. At present the Central Government is charging about Rs 32-33 per litre of petrol as Excise Duty and the VAT charged by the State Government is around Rs 22-23 per litre of petrol. For diesel fuel, Excise duty is about Rs 31-32 per litre and Rs 13-14 per litre is charged as VAT by the respective State Governments.
"The rise in fuel prices is increasing transportation cost across the State and directly or indirectly affect the prices of essential commodities. Considering that almost every single commodity is transported by road in the State, transportation cost are embedded into all costs. This in turn will affect all the sections of the society especially the farmers of the State," he said.
He said that at the time when the whole world including our State, is seriously affected by COVID-19, it is a matter of great concern that the Governments i.e. the Central and the State Government is burdening the people heavily by increasing the prices of fuels through levy of taxes.
"The increased prices of fuel has a cascading effect on the prices of all items of daily use in the State," he said. The council requested the State government to take up the issue of hike in central taxes with regard to fuel with the appropriate authority in order to impressed upon them to reduce the excise tax and thereby provide relief to the citizens of the State.
The State Government should take a conscious decision to alleviate the suffering of the people of the State by reducing the VAT on sale of petrol and diesel in the State by 50% of the present rate of VAT chargeable, he said.
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