The government's decision to raise gas prices will only create another wave of poverty, a group of activists said Monday.

A group calling itself the Alliance of People for Democracy and Human Rights held a rally in front of the provincial legislative council building to protest the government's planned fuel price increases, which will ease the fuel subsidy burden on the state budget amid rising global oil prices.

"The government should do something besides increasing gas prices. There are still many other things to do. Poor peopleunderstand how the policy will save the state budget, all they understand is that this will push their lives to the very limit," said rally coordinator Luki.

He said the alliance submitted a 12-point proposal with other steps the government could take to save the budget, including the establishment of progressive taxes for conglomerates.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced last week the government plan to increase gas retail prices by about 30 percent starting at the end of this month.

Yudhoyono, who earlier said the government would not raise gas prices, said this unpopular step needed to be taken since the government could no longer sustain the gas subsidy, which has soared to Rp 260 trillion from Rp 90 trillion due to the steep increase in global oil prices.

International oil prices have broken the level of US$120 per barrel, and many predict prices will continue to rise through the end of this year.

Yudhoyono said that by increasing the gas retail prices the government could save around Rp 25 million to 30 trillion and also secure the state budget. He said the government would distribute funds and daily necessities directly to poor people to offset the impacts of the price increases.

Commenting on the government's plan, Agus Purnomo of the alliance said a similar policy in 2005 did not work and many more people were pushed into poverty.

He criticized public officials, saying they continued to lead lavish lifestyles as the people struggled to survive.

At least one person died and several others were injured while queuing for the government funds in East Java in 2005 after fuel prices were increased.

He said protests against the government policy should not only involve rights activists but everybody affected by the policy.