Fuel Price Increase Protest Shocks India
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Protests against a recent increase in fuel prices shut down markets, schools, airports and businesses across India earlier this month,
and thousands of people were arrested as violence flared in some cities.
The effect of the demonstrations — led by political parties that oppose the governing coalition led by the Indian National Congress —
far exceeded expectations, although no official estimates of crowds were available.
Protests against a recent increase in fuel prices shut down markets, schools, airports and businesses across India earlier this month,
and thousands of people were arrested as violence flared in some cities.
The effect of the demonstrations — led by political parties that oppose the governing coalition led by the Indian National Congress —
far exceeded expectations, although no official estimates of crowds were available.
Some people affected by the one-day strike said the sizable opposition would force the government to address protesters’ concerns.
“This will create some sense of fear in the government,” said Vikas Sharma, 35, the owner of a cloth shop in Old Delhi, who was sitting idly outside his store.
As it moved to eliminate subsidies on petroleum products, the Congress government said late last month that
it would raise the price of gasoline by 3.5 rupees a liter, or almost 30 cents a gallon.
Diesel and kerosene prices are also being increased.
India’s state-run fuel companies will lose more than $11 billion this fiscal year,
the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said last month.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the fuel price increases would not be rolled back,
regardless of the scope of earlier and continuing protests.
The Congress government is paring market controls that keep prices of some goods artificially low in India.
At the same time, it is investing in employment programs.
“The main thing they are trying to do is move away from subsidies to spend on development,”
said Nikhilesh Bhattacharyya, an economist for Moody’s Economy.com.
“It is a slow process, a very slow process.”
Opposition parties say the changes are misguided.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is “more worried about the financial condition of oil companies than the condition of poor people,”
said Nitin Gadkari, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress party’s main rival, in this article in the New York Times.
Many Indians are not feeling the benefits of the country’s economic growth, which is expected to top 8 percent this year.
Inflation is driving up food prices, but salaries of low- and middle-income workers have not risen significantly.
“It is a very poor country, and that growth isn’t really broad-based,” said Mr. Bhattacharyya, the economist.
