Title - Jayalalithaa asks Centre to roll back 15% hike in railway freight charges

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, today urged the Centre to immediately roll back the 15 per cent hike in railway freight charges. In a statement, she said that this will affect the country's economy further and common people will be badly impacted.

The Chief Minister J Jayalaithaa stated that “'it is akin to adding fuel to the fire”, for the 15 per cent hike effective from October to June, which considered to be busy season. The hike in freight charges would result in increase in prices of all essential commodities, besides hike in prices of industries raw materials like cement, coal and iron, she added.

She added that the price hike comes at a time when the common people are going through various hardships. The people are in sorry state of affairs due to inflation and price rise. the Centre should immediately rollback the freight hike, urged the Chief Mnister.

The Centre, according to Jayalalithaa, in the name of dynamic pricing policy, has classified the nine-month period from October to June as 'busy season' and the three month July-September period as 'lean season' and has been levying enhanced freight charges during the 'busy season'. However, she pointed that during April to June 2011, the Centre had hiked and fixed the freight charges for coal by five per cent and for other products by seven per cent.

She said, from October 2011 to June 2012, the freight charges for all products was hiked by ten per cent and from October 2012 to June 2013, the Centre had the freight charges for food grains and chemical fertilisers by ten per cent each and for other products by 12 per cent for the 'busy season', she noted.

“Since all the months are the same as far as the railway freight transport was concerned, it was unjustified to artificially classify it as busy season from October to June and lean season from July to September,” said Jayalalithaa.

The hike in freight charges would result in increase in prices of all essential commodities, besides hike in prices of industries raw materials like cement, coal and iron and in turn it will lead to increase in the prices of construction materials and fuel the loan burden of poor people who were constructing houses, she added.