By IANS,
Lucknow : A day after she flayed the central government for the hike in fuel prices, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday decided to provide some respite to consumers in the state by cutting state levies.
Reduction in sales tax on cooking gas will provide a relief of Rs.11.35 on every cylinder with immediate effect. The diesel price has been brought down by Re.1.50 per litre while the petrol price would stand reduced by Re.1 a litre – all these from the levels reached after the central government hiked fuel prices Wednesday.
“Looking at the plight of the common man, we have decided to cut down our own taxes so that we could provide some relief to the heavily burdened citizen,” Mayawati told a press conference here.
“Even though reduction in state taxes would lead to a heavy drain on the state exchequer, we have decided to go ahead with it in the larger interest of the common people,” she added.
Terming the central government’s decision Wednesday as “unjustified”, she said: “It was amply evident that the Congress party had murky political designs behind this.”
Referring to the Congress party’s suggestion to states to reduce state levies, Mayawati said: “The Congress-ruled states would get compensated by the central government, while we would remain hard-pressed as our demand for the necessary financial assistance is already pending.”
Accusing the Congress-led central government of being insensitive to the plight of the common people, she warned: “We will launch a nationwide movement if the central government fails to take adequate measures to arrest the trend of rising prices.”