Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on the people of India to reduce their consumption of fuel, edible oil and save foreign exchange reserves with measures like cutting down on non-essential foreign travel.
Modi’s appeal to the nation came on Sunday as a stalemate between the US and Iran over a peace proposal to bring the Iran war to an end continues, and so do the worldwide supply chain disruptions triggered by the conflict.
Addressing a public meeting in Telangana’s Hyderabad, Modi asked citizens to collectively participate and make lifestyle choices that could help the country deal with pressures from the Middle East crisis.
Modi encouraged people to use public transport and electric vehicles.
“We have to reduce our use of petrol and diesel. In cities with metro lines, we should try to travel by metro… If we must use a car, then we should try to car pool,” Modi said.
He also suggested getting back to the work-from-home culture that became the widely adopted norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it would help the country use less fuel.
“During the coronavirus period, we developed many systems of work from home, online meetings, and video conferences, and we even became accustomed to them,” the prime minister said, adding that restarting these practices was in ” national interest” and the “need of the hour”.
Modi urged Indians to postpone unnecessary overseas travel, including for destination weddings, and avoid non-essential purchase of gold for at least one year to reduce the burden on foreign exchange.
“We must also place a strong emphasis on saving foreign exchange, as petrol and diesel have become so expensive globally,” he said.
He called on families in India to reduce their cooking oil consumption, deeming the move as both healthy and patriotic.
“Patriotism is not only about the willingness to sacrifice one’s life on the border. In these times, it is about living responsibly and fulfilling our duties to the nation in our daily lives,” PM Modi said as he made his appeal.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is one of few countries in the region that has not hiked retail petrol and diesel prices for domestic consumers or rationed supplies amid supply disruptions.
Prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the primary fuel used to heat stoves and ovens in Indian kitchens, have, however, been increased, he added.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have denounced Modi’s request to Indians to make lifestyle changes and help cushion the country from the economic repercussions of the Iran war, deeming the leader’s move a “failure” of policy.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Indian parliament’s lower house, said Modi’s appeal was a “proof of failure”.
“Yesterday, Modi ji asked the public to make sacrifices, don’t buy gold, don’t go abroad, use less petrol, cut down on fertilizer and cooking oil, take the metro, work from home. These aren’t sermons, these are proofs of failure,” the Congress leader wrote in Hindi on X.
“In 12 years, he’s (Modi) brought the country to such a pass that the public now has to be told what to buy, what not to buy, where to go, where not to go.
“Every time, they shift the responsibility onto the people just so they can wriggle out of accountability themselves,” Gandhi went on to say as he referred to the Modi government’s tenure.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram questioned what triggered Modi’s “very serious “directives”.
“The Government must convene Parliament immediately and take the nation into confidence & inform us about the true state of affairs which has necessitated these ‘appeals’,” he said.
