Tuesday, December 21 2004 19:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: West Bengal Assembly today (Dec 21, 2004) passed a non-official resolution urging the ruling UPA (United Progressive Alliance) at the Centre to withdraw the hiked price of diesel and cooking gas and take steps to implement the previous United Front Government's commitment of restructuring duties on oil products after abolishing the administrative price mechanism.

The resolution, moved by Left Front members, however, welcomed the Centre's decision against imposing Rs five per cylinder, but expressed concern at the last month's price hike of petroleum products that had led to the price rise of diesel by Rs 2.12 per litre and that of the cooking gas cylinder by Rs 20.

While noting that the price hike had been effected even after the fall in crude price by $ 7 in the international market, the resolution was of the view that this had a cascading impact on the prices of essential commodities and added to the woes of the consumers.

The resolution, while claiming that the Union Petroleum Minister had, under pressure of the left parties, backtracked on the decision to raise price of cooking gas cylinder by Rs five, urged the Centre to reduce the import and excise duty to lessen the burden on the common people.

Supporting the resolution, State's Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty held the successive Governments at the Centre responsible for hiking petro products 81 times since 1978 at the cost of mass interest.