The price of petrol was increased 78 times and the prices of diesel went up 76 times in Delhi in the financial year 2021-22, according to a government’s response to Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in Parliament. Raghav Chadha had tabled a question to the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas asking the number of times the prices of petrol and diesel were increased in the past and current fiscal year by the government.
The response was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli, on Monday July 25, in which he stated that the prices of petrol and diesel have been made market-determined with effect from June 26, 2010, and October 19, 2014, respectively. “Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) take appropriate decisions on pricing of petrol and diesel. Further, Public Sector OMCs have implemented daily revision of retail selling price (RSP) of petrol and diesel in the entire country with effect from June 16, 2017,” he said.
He further provided details about the number of instances the prices of petrol and diesel increased/decreased at Delhi during the financial year 2021-22. According to it, the price of petrol has been increased 78 times, decreased only seven times and remained the same 280 times. Similarly, the price of diesel has increased 76 times, decreased 10 times and remained the same for 279 times in that year.
Proceedings in Parliament on Monday remained paralysed for the sixth day as the stalemate over the Opposition's demand for immediate discussions on price rise and GST hike in both Houses deepened, with four Congress members getting suspended in Lok Sabha for the rest of the session for causing disruptions. Four Congress members who have been suspended are Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha saw repeated adjournments as opposition members stuck to their demand for suspending all business and holding an immediate discussion on price rise and GST hike while the government maintained that it was ready to discuss the issue once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from COVID-19. Since the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 18, opposition parties, including the Congress, have been protesting against price rise and various other issues.