CITU condemns hike in prices of petrol and diesel

Bhubaneswar, Feb 14 (UNI) The Orissa unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today condemned the hike in prices of petrol and diesel.

In a statement CITU's vice president Sivaji Patnaik said the hike would lead to further rise in prices of other commodities.

This would hit the farmers and workers with low wages, he said and urged the Union government to roll it back.

Mr Patnaik said had the government reintroduced the indirect tax and return the VAT to the oil companies there would not have any hike in the prices of petrol and diesel.

The government, he said, could have initiated steps to stabilise the prices of petroleum products by creating a fund from the money collected from the oil cess.

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