Keep kerosene subsidy: CPI

Terming the move to scrap the kerosene subsidy “a shameless attack on the poor and downtrodden,” the CPI demanded that the subsidy on the fuel remain.

On Friday, The Hindu reported that the Finance Ministry was planning to take forward the previous government’s policy of phasing out subsidised kerosene.

“Gas supply is very inadequate and sold in black markets. Some States becoming 100 per cent electrified and kerosene-free is a big lie,”CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy said. “While the Centre is giving more than five lakh crore subsidies or tax concessions to corporates every year, the kerosene subsidy of Rs 852 crore to poor people is not even 1.5 per cent of it.”