Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday expressed shock over the reduction in the allotment of kerosene from the Central pool to the State.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said in the latest order dated March 20, 2013, the Centre had announced that the kerosene allotment for the State will be 29,060 kilolitre per month for the April-June quarter. She said that this reduction was the biggest cut imposed on any of the States.
Tamil Nadu had been singled out for such a drastic reduction, she observed.
The allotment to most other States had been maintained at former level with virtually no reduction.
Ms. Jayalalithaa termed the process of allotment of kerosene “totally opaque and arbitrary.” The basis and rationale of the allotment was not shared with the States nor was it based on any data which the States provided. It would only be fair that if the allotment was based on information provided by oil marketing companies, such information should also be shared with the State governments to enable them to make timely representations or corrections.
“Given the arbitrariness and opacity that characterises the kerosene allotment decisions and the lack of any specific reasons that have been cited for the drastic reduction in the allotment for Tamil Nadu, leads me to wonder why Tamil Nadu is being targeted for such unfair and vindictively harsh treatment by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Is the Government of India punishing Tamil Nadu for running one of the most efficient Public Distribution System in the country?” she asked.
The unjust and arbitrary under-allocation of kerosene by the Central Government to Tamil Nadu to the extent of more than 55 per cent against the actual requirement was penalising the poor people of Tamil Nadu, who were being deprived of their eligible entitlement of kerosene by the capricious cuts in the allocation of kerosene to the State.
She sought the Prime Minister’s decisive intervention in the matter “to undo the injustice done to Tamil Nadu.” She wanted the entire requirement of 65,140 kl of kerosene per month to be allotted to the State.
As an immediate interim measure, she requested that the Centre should at least restore the allotment to 52,806 kl per month, which was the level of allotment for the April – June 2011 quarter.
