It is obvious that the petrol (MS 87 RON and HOBC) is used in cars which are owned by those persons whose living standard is above average or posh as an average individual or family cannot afford to maintain the car.

The means of transportation for common men comprising lower strata of the society is the public transport - buses, mini-buses and coaches etc., which use high speed diesel. Likewise, kerosene oil is also used by the poor section of the society as fuel where natural gas is not available and also for "light" where the electricity is not available.

The basis of all these petroleum products is "crude oil". More the sophistication, more it will need refining. The refineries will thus be requiring more refining of the crude oil for getting the finest products like the MS87RON and the HOBC. Therefore, the refineries' cost for getting these products will be much higher than the cost incurred on getting diesel and kerosene oil.

It would be seen from the Table during the period of last 18 months, prices of the MS 87 RON remained almost at the same level - there has been a marginal increase of 1.39 per cent in its price while the price of number one petrol, the HOBC has marginally been reduced by 0.128 per cent. On the other hand, the price of high speed diesel has gone up by 21.72 per cent and that of kerosene oil by 22.01 per cent during the same 18 months period.

The prices of light diesel have also gone up by 19.58 per cent. What is the background for such a miracle? Has it really been possible for the refineries (domestic and foreign) to keep almost intact the prices of MS87RON and HOBC during the last 18 months when the prices of diesels and kerosene were raised by them by about/over 1/5th? Or some other factors are responsible for this gross distortion? If so, the relevant factors should be analysed in detail in the press for public information.

For the satisfaction of the public, the committee should also publish the "transparent" formula on the basis of which the prices of various products are determined by it detailing its various components and their weightage, etc. The committee should also publish the calculations of the prices fixed by it during the last 18 months - at least 6 calculations - as of the end of each quarter.

With the commissioning of the Pak Arab Refinery at Multan, the country has not only become self-sufficient in the matter of petrol but we have become exporters of that item. Then the pertinent question is why the job of fixing the prices of the petrol continues to be assigned to the committee of the oil marketing companies? Why this function should not now be transferred to the committee of the refineries operating in the country?

Quite a few people have developed a thinking that since we have become self-sufficient in the matter of petrol - which is also environment-friendly - the government wishes to shift from the diesel to the petrol. And this is one of the reasons for increasing the prices of diesel so that its cost may be brought to the level of the petrol in the next 3-4 years. Apparently, this notion seems justified when one finds petrol prices being kept intact while there is a sharp increase in the prices of the diesel.

The people generally believe that the policies of the government since October, 1999 have been anti-poor which is reflected in many fields such as

(a) petroleum prices as discussed above

(b) transfer of resources from poor to the affluent through monetary policy envisaging reduction of interest rates adversely affecting the depositors in the poor section of the society (notwithstanding whether the deposits are in banks or in National Savings Schemes) and benefiting the corporate/non-corporate commercial/industrial sector which are not prepared to pass on - even partially - the benefit of interest rate cut to the consumers and

(c) loading the poor with the indirect taxes like sales tax, etc.