Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition in Haryana assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday said the people of the state are continuously getting crushed by mounting inflation.

Quoting the latest National Statistical Office (NSO) report, the Congress leader said Haryana surpassed the national average in the rate of inflation in the NSO figures. The inflation in the state is so alarming that it has crossed the highest level fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), along with all the states.

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“Today, the inflation rate in the state (Haryana) is 6.04 per cent. The inflation rate in rural areas has been estimated at 7.12 per cent. It has been said in the NSO report that the rates of milk, vegetables, fruits and everyday things in the state are the highest in the whole country. It has also become difficult for the poor and middle class to manage kitchen expenses,” he said.

Hooda said during the Congress tenure, Haryana used to get cheap petrol and diesel in comparison to neighbouring states because value added tax (VAT) rates were the lowest in the state.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party (BJP-JJP) government doubled the VAT rates. This has impacted the price of all things, which is being confirmed by the government figures themselves. Ever since the BJP came to power, the prices of almost every commodity, including flour, milk, ghee, mustard oil, pulses, cooking gas, have doubled or more than doubled, while the income of the common man is continuously decreasing,” the Congress leader said.

The former CM said the state government had drastically increased the rates of electricity in the past. “Earlier, the government had increased the rates of water and put additional burden on the public, now the government is going to make education expensive, along with everyday needs,” he said.

Hooda said the BJP-JJP government has categorically refused to give funds to the universities. Due to this, universities have started increasing their fees. Hisar-based Chaudhary Charan Singh Agricultural University has increased the fees by 100 to 150 per cent. “Education will become very expensive for the children of poor and middle class families in the coming days,” he said.