Meghalaya: VPP stages sit in protest against price rise

The Voice of the People Party staged a sit in protest today expressing dissatisfaction with the Meghalaya government’s alleged indifference to the soaring prices of essential commodities in the state.

VPP chief and Nongkrem legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit has cited that the main reason for the party to stage the one-day sit-in demonstration is as a mark of protest against the unprecedented price rise of all essential commodities that is hitting hard the people of the state, especially the poor and the downtrodden.

VPP said that the price-rise issue was not properly addressed during the recently held Assembly session.

The demonstration was also backed by various other organizations and the general public, urging the government to act on the skyrocketing prices of essential goods.

While speaking to Northeast Live, “We tried to reach out to this issue of the house as far as the price rise is concerned. However, unfortunately, we could not have a debate on this issue, and we feel that in order to express seriousness on the issue. So, the party decided to hold this demonstration today to convey a message to a government that the Voice of People Party is really serious about the issue that has affected each and every family in the state and especially the poor section of society. This is why we decided to hold this demonstration for a day. Maybe we will decide the future cause of action if necessary.”

He also added, “After today’s program, we may write to the state government to appraise the seriousness and problem we are encountering as far as this issue is concerned. There has been a skyrocketing as per the essential commodities, and as you have seen, farmers are selling their produce at throughway prices, and we consumers have to buy at an exotic price. So we feel that this is a very serious issue.”

“When you go to the market and compare the prices that the government has given and the rate that you get from the market is different. They don’t comply with the rate given by the government,” he added.

“However, if the government is saying that the price rise is due to the absence of railways in the state, then it should also come up with statistics to compare the prices of commodities in other states. We (the VPP) have done a comparison study in Mizoram. We found that the prices of commodities are cheaper in Mizoram, Dimapur, Assam,” he added.

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