AAMIR SAEED

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties in National Assembly on Thursday lambasted the government over recent hike in petroleum products prices, terming it a burden on the poor.

Speaking on a point of order, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said the government has set a trend of increasing prices of the petroleum products each month that is a burden on the poor.

He urged the government to slash sales tax on the petroleum products from 31 percent to 20 percent as the prices are comparatively low in the neighbouring countries.

Shah said the government has failed in revenue collection and it is now trying to make up its loss by increasing prices of the petroleum products.

“Well-off people are sitting in the assembly and nobody here cares about the poor,” he said, questioning the government as to where all the money collected through taxes on the petroleum products is being spent.

He demanded the government to reduce prices of petrol by Rs5 and diesel by Rs8 to provide relief to the public.

Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal said the government increased half of the price of petroleum products that Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had suggested it through a summary.

He said that OGRA is an independent body that determines prices of the petroleum products, adding that all the money collected from taxes on these products is utilized on development projects.

Speaking on the issue, Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal counted a long list of development projects that, he claimed, his government has been carrying out across all the four provinces.

He also claimed that prices of the petroleum products in Pakistan are lower as compared to other neighboring countries like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The minister said that a lot of investment is also being carried out in physical infrastructure and energy-related projects, besides investment through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Tharcoal and wind energy projects in Sindh.

The opposition leader, however, said the minister is trying to play with the galleries by presenting long list of the development projects.

He alleged the government is carrying out only those projects from where they are getting “commissions.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Shah Mahmood Qureshi also criticized the Interior minister for giving a long speech but not giving answer to the question as to why the government has increased the petroleum prices.

He said the government has increased the prices at the moment when sowing of wheat is underway and agriculture sector in the country is already in the crisis.

Qureshi said the government has failed in tax collection and collecting the money from poor people through indirect taxation.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Dr Farooq Sattar also rejected the hike in petroleum prices by terming it a burden on poor people.