The Pakistan Peoples' Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) on Thursday castigated the government for increase in gas tariff and termed it anti-people. PPP central information secretary Sherry Rehman in a statement lambasted the government's move to increase gas price.
Rehman said the 9.95 percent rise in gas rates announced on Monday exposed hollow claims the government had made during the presentation of so-called "pro-poor" budget 2006-07.
"There was no justification for increasing the price of a commodity that was locally produced. Consumers are still struggling from adverse impact of the gas price hike that the government had imposed on them just a couple of months ago," she contended.
She was of the view there was no reason why the economically crushed people should further be burdened by more price hikes while rulers spent billions of taxpayers' money on their foreign travelling and purchase of luxury cars. The spokesperson said gas was a major raw material used in a number of sectors, all of which would severely be affected by the latest tariff hike.