'Reduce hike in oil prices immediately'

Forwarding the memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh through Tahsildar Prasanna, JCTU Udupi District Secretary P Vishwanath Rai demanded that immediate order should be issued to withdraw the hiked amount on petrol introduced from May 15.

He said, the proposal to raise the price of LPG, kerosene and diesel should be cancelled. Besides government should take measures to evade the cost hiking of essential commodities, he added.

He said the politicians have joined with capitalists and the government is introducing programmes to support the capitalists in the country.

The Government should not privatise the research and maintenance of oil resources in India, rather government owned ONGC should be assigned with the job of taking care of oil resources. He demanded that action should be taken against corrupt politicians and capitalists involved in lobbying, he said.

Price hike has destabilised the life of labour class. Both Central and State governments are expecting higher tariffs and profit from increased price of petrol. However, it is the lay man who has to undergo the brunt of the price hikes, he added.

A procession was organised from Udupi government bus stop to taluk office before submitting to memorandum to Tahsildar.