Concern over curtailed supply of PDS kerosene

FROM A REPORTER

SHILLONG, Oct 31: Following the sudden deduction of the supply of Public Distribution System (PDS) Kerosene in Meghalaya, which has affected a large number of Below Poverty Line (BLP) families, KHM State Youth Wing today met Joint Director of Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, GS Nongkhla.

“The Director told us that the quota for supply of Kerosene has been reduced and will be reduced even further owing to the extreme leakages ,” president KHM State Youth Wing, Thomas Passah, told reporters here on Monday.

He , however, said that this deduction of the supply of kerosene which have took place for some months now has badly affected the poorer section of the society especially those living below poverty line who solely depends on kerosene for cooking.

Informing that the supply of the Kerosene has been reduced to 2 liters , Passah said , “We suspect that something behind the scene is going on from the central government side because according to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yoja launched on May 1, which aims to provide LPG connections to BPL households in the country and also to replace the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) cannot be immediately implement here in a state like Meghalaya as a large number of people still depends on the Kerosene for cooking.

“The Joint Director also told us that the Central government has probably issued a letter to curtail the supply of Kerosene here in the state of Meghalaya citing detection of 70 per cent leakage,” he said adding that the Director has also expressed shocked that the centre is saying that there is 70 percent leakage of Kerosene here.

“The Director also told us that there will be further reduction of 25 per cent of Kerosene for 2016-2017 as per the Socio Economic Census 2011, and people will be receiving only about one liter of Kerosene which is unfounded,” he said.

According to him earlier people use to get about 7 liter of the Kerosene from a overall supply of 6000 liters , but this has come down to only 2 liter which will be further reduced and time will come that Kerosene will be do way with of which the BPL family here are not prepare to face.