Opposition protests govt move to raise cooking gas price by Rs 4 per month

New Delhi: The upper house of the parliament witnessed an uproar by opposition today when government's move to raise the price of cooking gas by Rs 4 every month came out. The opposition said that the decision came out at a time when the global oil prices are already at a record low Earlier, the rich gave up the subsidy on the cooking gas in order to facilitate the poor and let them avail the benefit. But now the government is eliminating the subsidy even for poor. Yesterday in Lok Sabha, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan gave information on the price hike i.e elimination of subsidy on cooking gas. The minister said that in May the government authorised the oil companies to raise the price of cooking gas by Rs 4 every month. However, the opposition raised voiced against the decision on Tuesday. Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien said that the government was not fulfilling its promise towards the poor. It is now stepping back from its social commitment of providing cooking gas at subsidised rates to the poor. Soon the argument was joined by other parties as well including Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Left Front. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said, "This is strongly condemnable. The government should withdraw (the decision)". While his party colleague Tapan Sen said that the people were being 'cheated', Samajwadi Party's Naresh Aggarwal quoted that this is a party for profits. The debate on the decision did not end here. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the government is killing the poor and soon the prices will go up by Rs 48 per cylinder. "This is not acceptable," he added.