Gen 'Y' gets petrol advise

The recent hike in petrol prices has left youngsters who are dependent upon their parents to tank up their two-wheelers to think twice before turning the ignition on. Parents advise their wards to go for limited use of vehicles, only if its warranted, writes Manish.

“H ow do they expect us to live, if they keep on increasing the price of petrol like this?” questions Ananth, a final year engineering student of the city.
Peeved at the hike in petrol prices, Ananth hurls a train of abuses and curses on the government for making life miserable for people.

The recent hike in petrol prices has led to a series of protests in the city with a large number of organisations slamming both the central and state governments. While some find fault with deregulation of petrol prices, which has led to excessive hike in price, others sought to know why the government has failed to reduce the heavy taxes imposed on fuel.

When oil companies announced that the hike would be more than Rs eight, panic syndrome set in and people started queueing up for filling the tanks of their vehicles. A few petrol bunks, put-up their favourite ‘No stock’ boards waiting for midnight to strike so that they could make a quick buck, says Ananth. For college-goers, petrol is filled based on the day-to-day needs. When the hike takes effect all of a sudden, students have to face huge burden, he adds.

Citing his troublesome experience, Ananth said, “My friends told me that petrol hike was being planned so they were going to the bunk. By the time we reached the petrol bunk, we noticed that they were out of stock. After going to nearly five bunks, we found petrol, much to our relief.”

While the hike in itself makes people dig deeper into their pockets, it also turns into agony for marketing professionals. As Ravikumar, a marketing executive at an insurance firm, says, “Our company doesn’t increase the salary or incentives based on the hike in petrol. They want the sales to continue as usual.

But, when we bring the petrol hike to their notice, they turn a blind eye. Petrol price has been increased almost four times in recent months, but no incentive or salary hike has been given. For marketing executives, it is a very difficult time.”

Ravikumar, who deals with insurance for two-wheelers, points out that whenever there is hike in petrol, customers tend to put their plans to purchase a vehicle on hold.

Even though majority of them eventually purchase the vehicles, the knee-jerk reaction during such times causes a loss of incentives to the marketing professionals, who have to meet set targets.

CAVA student Naveen has a different take on the issue. Having joined the course with plans to become a professional photographer, Naveen usually heads out to neighbouring places in the district to capture moments on his camera. Naveen says he heads out to Naguvanahalli to catch the birds in action or to sight wildlife at Nagarhole on his motorbike.

Last time itself there was a big issue about raising the pocket money. “Going and asking them again for more won’t do any good,” he replies with a sigh. “If I ask them (parents), the first thing they say is stop using the mobile and use that money for petrol,” he says wryly.

Countering the argument of others, Prashanth S, an entrepreneur who works on software development and an avid cyclist, says the move would be better in the long run. While more people are trying to buy their own vehicles, the hike in prices will make public transportation more attractive.

The city has good connectivity in terms of buses, which people can use instead of each person using a personal vehicle, he says. Even those, who use cars can make use of the air-conditioned buses being deployed by KSRTC. Or they can use a cycle, which not only keeps them healthy but also works out much cheaper than anything else.

Namratha, another engineering students, says she has managed despite the petrol price hike by sharing her ride to college with her friend. “As my classmate stays near my house, we use our bike on alternate days,” she says. The cost reduces drastically by sharing our vehicles, she adds.