The Hindu : National : BJP seeks white paper on petro products

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Friday, Jul 01, 2005

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National

BJP seeks white paper on petro products

Special Correspondent

"Let the Government explain how much petrol and diesel actually cost and the duty component" The BJP said the paper should take into account domestic production, direct imports, imports through long-term contracts and through newly acquired equity

NEW DELHI: After a weeklong agitation against the recent increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded that the Government issue a white paper on the costing and duty structure of petroleum products.

Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the issue would be raised in Parliament during the coming Monsoon session. "We will demand a debate on it," he said. He said that the Government should prepare a white paper before the start of the session.

The BJP said the white paper should work out the "average cost" of petroleum products after taking into account details of domestic production, direct imports, imports through long-term contracts and the newly acquired equity in some oil wells, as in Sudan. "Let the Government explain how much petrol and diesel actually cost and the duty component," said Mr. Javadekar. He said the party would like to see the extent of the global increase in petroleum prices that was being passed on to the consumer and the Government's share in it.

Mr. Javadekar defended the previous National Democratic Alliance Government's 2002 decision to dismantle the administered price mechanism that gave oil companies the freedom to increase or decrease prices in relation to global prices of crude oil. However, he was silent on the non-implementation of that de-regulation and the NDA Government's decision not to increase prices ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in spite of an increase in global prices.

Criticising "silence"

Mr. Javadekar once again commented on the "silence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi" on the Imrana case.

He strongly criticised Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav's reported remarks approving the "fatwa" issued against Imrana.

"The Imrana case is not and should not be seen as a religious issue. It involves gender justice, women's rights, human rights and the question of human dignity and self-respect," Mr. Javadekar said. "We demand that the Muslim Personal Law Board should itself re-consider its `fatwa' and revoke it."

Mr. Javadekar said the Congress and the SP were playing "vote-bank politics" with a case that should have been viewed purely on the basis of the offence and the need to support, not punish, the victim.

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