The recent hike in the fuel prices in India is indicative of the fact that the time to come will be even harder, and the future seems to be uncertain as far as inflation and rising poverty is concerned. Ministry of Petrolium concluded the whole issue saying that the oil companies and the government are facing heavy losses, and raising the prices of petrol and diesel is the only alternative to resolve the crisis. As per the spokesperson from the concerned portfolio, a difference of Rs. 10 per litre on petrol, Rs. 9 on kerosene & diesel, and approximately Rs. 110 on a 14 Kg. refill cylinder of LPG, is what is projected as the ’so called’ loss of the oil companies and concerned deptts of GOI. It is an evidential fact that increase in the price of fuel leads to an automatic rise in the prices of all the other essential commodities and services.
Common masses have no other alternative than to tolerate the hike, and cope up with the adversities caused by the aftermath of the same. A moderate retaliation from a few political parties and organizations becomes the headline for a few days after the pricehike, and ultimately the whole issue becomes history and everyone ignores it as if nothing serious has happened. If one may analyse the price increase of fuel (petroleum) in the last 20 years in India then s/he will find that the prices have increased like anything, and on an average it has been a 10 times increase in the price of petrol if compared with the price during the mid-80s.
Government does not intend to share the burden with the oil companies, hence, ultimate sufferers are the common people. Now-a-days the expenditure on fuel like petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene etc. have become an important part of our lives, and it is no more a luxury for most of us who have to commute long distance on a daily basis to attend college & schools, or offices and places of professional importance. It is not possible for everyone to cover long distance on a bicycle everyday as it would be tiring and time consuming. Alternative fuel is one such remedy to the existing crisis but none of the institutions in India is seriously researching or trying to explore something new and productive to resolve the issue. Brasilians are using a major portion of their huge production of sugarcane to process it to make ethyl alcohol which can be used as an alternative fuel instead of petrol and diesel. India is the leading producer of sugarcane in the whole world, but the idea of producing alcohol from sugarcane has always been rejected on the account of feasibility and viability factors.
International politics has also played a major role in the present oil crisis, and especially the turbulance in Gulf and the adjoining countries in Middle East, always lead to global price-hike of the crude oil. Every one of us should realize the importance of this wonderful natural resource which has made our lives of comfortable, and hence, a non-partial organization like the UN or its subsidiary organizations should unanimously decide to protect and conserve all the natural resources regardless of their existence in a particular country or a politically defined area. Each and every country regardless of its statusco as a developed or developing, is dependent on the natural sources of energy for their industries, national defence, and development in infrastructure & public utility services. It is high time that a global policy on energy conservation and its optimization for the well being of each and every living being on this planet must be formulated and implemented to make this world a better place to live. Forthcoming generations will thank us for deploying these preventive measures, and, by doing so we can pay a tribute to our ancestors, who’d left such a beautiful world behind, with abundant natural resources for us.
A solution to the present fuel crisis and rising prices of petrol and diesel in India should be derived, and conducting awareness campaign amongst the common masses to make them understand the importance of natural resources like petroleum derivatives, electricity, water, etc. and their conservation to avoid any scarcity in the future is extremely important and mandatory. Our great leader Hon. President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam has a vision of making India a superpower by 2020 should be a dream cherished, and energy conservation is the key to achieve this feat.
So wake up to make India "Super India" or else "Beware of the Future"! Jai Hind.