The deposed coordinator of the AIADMK, O. Panneerselvam, in a statement issued on Friday, pointed out that the price of one kilogram of ghee, which was ₹ 535 earlier, had gone up to ₹ 580 while the half a kilolitre packet of curd had risen to ₹ 35 to ₹ 30 and the 200-gram packet of butter milk, from ₹ 8 to ₹ 10.
By agreeing to the decision of the GST Council to levy tax on packed food items, the ruling party, which had opposed the price rise of any item while in the Opposition, had exposed its double standards, Mr Panneerselvam said, adding that the Central and State government should take steps for taking back the tax levy on the food items.
Meanwhile, the sidelined former interim general secretary of the AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala, also criticised the DMK government for hiking the prices of products of Aavin such as ghee, curd and lassi following the coverage of the products under the fold of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
In a statement, she recalled it was only in March that the prices of ghee, milk powder, ice cream, and curd were increased. At that time, the prices went up by ₹30 per litre for ghee, ₹40 per kg for milk powder, ₹100 per kg for badam powder and ₹6 per litre for curd.
This time, the prices rose by ₹45 per litre for ghee; ₹10- ₹20 per litre for curd and ₹2- ₹3 per 200 ml for lassi. This had “shocked” people.
Citing the levy of 5% GST on food items, the DMK government hiked the price of ghee by 8.5%, which “amounts to daylight robbery,” Ms Sasikala observed, appealing to the Centre to take steps for the withdrawal of the GST levy on food items and to the State government to roll back the price hike for the products of Aavin.
