TMC demands white paper from Centre on add'l revenue earned from oil pool

KOLKATA/Balurghat: As Trinamool Congress (TMC) protest against rising fuel prices entered the second day on Monday, party's Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy demanded the Centre to publish white paper on the amount collected as additional revenue from the oil pool and cite details of how the money would be spent for people's welfare. While placing this demand, Roy referred to former Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan's claim that the additional revenue collected from the oil pool would be spent for the welfare of the people.

Roy said in the Budget of 2021-22, the Central government had imposed Agriculture Infrastructure cess of Rs 2.50 per litre on petrol and Rs 4.50 per litre on diesel. "Now, the state governments do not get a single penny from the additional cess and surcharge imposed by the Centre," he added.

Meanwhile, TMC leaders and workers took part in meetings and 'dharnas' across the state. The protest meetings were held in all 341 blocks of the state. In Jadavpur, Aroop Biswas, state Power minister took part in a cycle rally. Biswas said the spiraling price hike had affected the middle class very badly. He was accompanied by Tarakeshwar Chakraborty and other Trinamool leaders.

Aditi Munshi, Trinamool Congress MLA from Rajarhat-Gopalpur, also took out a protest rally. Refuting the false claim of the BJP that the price of fuel had gone up because of the rice in prices in the international market, Roy said Pradhan had issued a statement on March 9, 2021 in reply to a question on the rise of fuel and cooking gas between 2014 and 2021 citing that during this period the price of petrol and diesel had gone up by 493 per cent and cooking gas by 100 per cent. During this period, the price of crude oil had gone down by 30 per cent, Roy added.

In Balurghat, the party staged a peaceful demonstration. The protestors-led by Trinamool leader Sekhar Das Gupta, party coordinator Subhas Chaki, vice-president Biplab Khan, Balurghat town party president Shyamal Laha and Balurghat town party youth president Pritam Ram Mondal shouted slogans against the Central government and conducted a protest convention at Balurghat Hili-more.

The protestors organised a mass-signature campaign involving customers at fuel filling stations and conducted a protest rally on a bullock-cart.