Govt appeasing pvt airlines by reducing ATF: CITU

NEW DELHI: Accusing the UPA government of appeasing private airlines by reducing price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), the CITU on Saturday lambasted the Centre for "ignoring" the common man's demand to bring down petrol, diesel and LPG costs.

CITU, the trade union of the CPI(M), also demanded that the government immediately reduce the price of these fuels used by the common man, and called upon the working class to "expose the anti-people face" of the Manmohan Singh government, "masquerading as the government of the aam aadmi."

Expressing strong resentment at the government's move to reduce the ATF price, CITU president M K Pandhe said the ATF's cost was now "lower" than that of petrol.

"In spite of repeated demands from the common man to bring down the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG to reduce the inflationary burden, the government has refused to do so, even as the global prices of crude oil have registered more than 50 per cent fall," Pandhe said in a statement.

He said the government's refusal to give relief to the comman man on the plea of poor financial health of the Oil Marketing Companies was totally untenable when the same OMCs were forced by the government to accept the deferring of payment of Rs 2,000 crore by the airlines.

The government's present tax structure, as on date, showed its "clear bias" against the 'aam aadmi' in favour of the airlines, he alleged.