Kochi: Opposition Leader V D Satheesan has called out the increasing price burden on the public and blamed the Left Democratic Front (LDF) for imposing high taxes and tariffs.
“The Pinarayi Vijayan regime in Kerala which his celebrating its second anniversary on Saturday is terrorizing people by imposing high taxes,” alleged Opposition Leader V D Satheesan.
“The government is celebrating by increasing power and water tariffs, imposing an additional cess on petrol and diesel and hiking permit fees for building construction steeply,” he said.
The government, which has adopted a hostile attitude against the people, is implementing tax terror in the state,” Satheesan told Manorama News.
He noted that residents of Kerala who are experiencing a severe summer are being scalded more by the price rise. “While the government is organizing grand events on its anniversary, the common people are suffering. A cess of Rs 2 per litre of petrol and diesel was imposed ostensibly to distribute welfare pensions regularly every month. The government later hiked the power tariff by 6.6 per cent and water charges by up to Rs 500 to steal from these welfare pensioners,” said Satheesan.
The real impact of the fuel cess was all-round inflation, especially of essential items, he added. The government also forced the people to drink black tea by increasing the milk price by Rs 6 per litre.
“When people were trying to somehow adjust to all these hikes, the government announced an exponential increase in property tax and permit fees for buildings. The application fee, which was Rs 30 for a 1,200 sq feet house in panchayats, is now Rs 1,000. The permit fee has been increased from Rs 392 to Rs 5600,” he pointed out.
“Those who sought to drown all these sorrows with a drink too were not spared. The liquor prices went up twice,” said Satheesan.