Title - Rail freight hike unfair: Jayalalithaa

Chennai: Terming the 15 per cent hike in railway freight charges, which will come into effect from Octotber 1 'unfair', chief minister J. Jayalalithaa has urged the Centre to withdraw the hike in view of the present conditions of rising inflation.She said the Centre’s move to hike the railway freight was 'like adding fuel to fire' as it had come against the backdrop of spiralling cost of essential commodities triggered by frequent hike in the prices of petroleum products.“When the railway freight movement is uniform thr­o­ughout the year, classifying the nine-month period from October-June as busy season artificially and charging busy season rates is unfair,” Jyal­alithaa said. She said the Railways under its dyn­amic pricing policy has classified July-September as lean season and October-June as a busy season. The freight rates were higher during the busy season.She stated that during the period from April to June 2011, the Centre had raised the freight charges for coal by five per cent and seven per cent for other products. “From October 2011 to June 2012, the freight charges for all products were hiked by ten per cent and from October 2012 to June 2013, the Centre had the freight charges for food grains and chemical fertilisers fixed at ten per cent each and 12 per cent for other products for the busy season,” the chief minister said and added that this was proposed to be hiked further by 15 per cent from October 1.

As a result of this hike, there will be an all-round increase in the prices of essential commodities and also in the raw material prices for factories resulting in higher inflation. Further, this would hurt the people and the economy rather than stabilising it, she said flaying the Centre for its decision to enhance the charges.

Micro units will be hit hard with rise in raw material cost

Coimbatore: The 15 per cent hike in charges in freight trains, set to come into effect from October 1 across the country, has drawn dismay from the micro units in the region.

“We are shocked by this. The hike in freight charge will affect not only us, but also the life of the common man,” said J. Ja­mes, president of the TN Asso­ciation of Cottage and Micro Enterprises here on Saturday.

Power cuts over the last few years had led to a decline in job orders. Al­so, their business depends mainly on the railways, with raw materials from north India being brought here by train and the ma­nufactured goods being sent to the various states. Power shortage had also made it difficult for micro units here to compete with industries in north India, causing them to lose their orders.

The hike in fuel price had brought its own woes to industries because raw material and transportation costs and the prices of essential commodities too had gone up. “Many labourers were on the verge of losing their jobs. The price hike will only cripple us,” said James. The micro units have urged the Centre and the ministry to drop the move to hike freight charges.