New Delhi, March 13 CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, demanding strict action against hoarders and those selling cylinders at inflated prices, over the current "crisis" in cooking gas.
Baby also urged the prime minister to reconsider New Delhi's recent foreign policy positions and demanded that India condemn the US-Israel war on Iran.
Expressing "deep anguish" over the cooking gas "crisis," the CPI(M) leader said the government appears to have failed to ensure adequate gas reserves that could protect the country's interests from external shocks and instabilities caused by the US-Israel war on Iran and the resulting disruption of supply chains.
The Left party said that the increase in cooking gas cylinder prices has already added a heavy burden on people struggling with inflation.
"Cooking gas cylinders intended for domestic use are being sold in the black market at prices ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,000. The government should immediately take measures to curb black marketing and ensure the availability of gas cylinders to all genuinely needy individuals," Baby said.
He also said that the scarcity of cooking gas has also affected many restaurants and office canteens, as well as gig workers, who are losing their jobs. The prices of alternative cooking sources, such as induction stoves and electric cookers, have also risen sharply, and even the cost of firewood has increased by more than four to five times, he said.
"It has also come to our notice that the prices of edible oil are on the rise... These developments are pushing the poorer sections of our society towards hunger, while the middle classes are suffering under the additional burden of rising prices," he added.
The CPI(M) leader demanded strict action against black-marketeers who are hoarding and selling gas cylinders at inflated prices, and uninterrupted supply of gas cylinders to student hostels so that nutritious and balanced meals, including adequate quantities of dal and sabji along with other regular items, can be prepared and served.
He also demanded regulation and control of edible oil prices, adequate compensation for gig workers dependent on food deliveries and protection of the interests of small restaurant owners.
Baby also demanded that India should "firmly condemn" the US-Israel war on Iran.
"I would like to remind you that when Iraq was attacked by the US in 2003, the Parliament of India unanimously passed a resolution deploring the attack on a sovereign country," he said, highlighting that it was the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"The government should immediately call upon the US and Israel to end the war, and necessary steps should be taken to ensure the uninterrupted supply of energy resources," he added.