Govt has hurt common people by raising rail fares, increasing LPG prices: Cong

Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev on Wednesday hit out at the central government, saying that it has hurt the common people by raising railway fares and LPG cylinder prices.

"The new year has begun today but we are disappointed that on this occasion, the government has hurt the common people by raising the fares of railway tickets and prices of LPG cylinders. Doesn't the government see the pain of common people?" Dev told ANI.

"We are all aware that more than two crores and 30 lakh people travel by railways. For a journey of around 2,000 kilometres, fares of sleeper class have been increased by Rs 20 and those of AC class have been increased by Rs 80," she said.

"We were expecting that common people will get relief in the new year but the government has albeit increased problems for the populace," Dev further said.

The fare of ordinary non-AC classes increased by one paisa per kilometre and by two paise in mail/express non-AC classes. Fare has been hiked by 4 paise per kilometre in AC classes, while suburban fare and season tickets will remain the same.

"If you think about it, the hike of one paisa sounds small but, add to that the state of the economy, rise in unemployment, fall in rural consumption, where even 'dal' (pulses) and normal cooking oil is unaffordable, how is the common man going to enter 2020 with all these issues. I feel that injustice has been done towards the poor people," Dev said.

The price of non-subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been hiked by Rs 19 per cylinder. On New Year's Eve, the Ministry of Railways revised the basic passenger fare which will be effective from January 1, 2020.