The Hindu : Front Page : Dasgupta appeals to unions for strike against oil price hike

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Friday, Feb 15, 2008
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Dasgupta appeals to unions for strike against oil price hike

Special Correspondent

“It has reduced the Common Minimum Programme to a piece of paper”

Kolkata: Gurudas Dasgupta, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and senior Communist Party of India MP, appealed to the leaders of all trade unions “to jointly think of calling a general strike in protest against the increase in prices of petrol and diesel and the outrageous economic policies of the Centre.”

“This is the last nail in the coffin of the trustworthiness of the government and we demand an immediate withdrawal of the decision,” Mr Dasgupta told The Hindu here on Thursday.

“It has reduced the Common Minimum Programme to a piece of paper that should be thrown into a waste-paper basket,” he added. The oil price hike will lead to an overall increase in prices of essential commodities at a time when the country is in the grip of rising inflation and when the prices of foodgrains are already high.

The magnitude of the loss to public sector oil companies that is being touted by the Centre as reason for increasing oil prices “is highly exaggerated,” he said.

The AITUC has undertaken a signature campaign against the economic policies of the Centre and intends to enlist one crore signatories before submitting the list to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Mr. Dasgupta said.

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