The comprehensive clean-up that the public sector oil marketing companies recently initiated in the liquefied petroleum gas distribution system is a commendable if long overdue effort to check what had evidently become a free-for-all game. Groaning under the “subsidy burden” in a market sector where consumption levels of the convenience fuel had skyrocketed over the decades, the companies first moved collectively to computerise data with regard to LPG consumers in terms of address locations and consumption patterns. Even as price increases were effected, the government capped at six a year the number of subsidised cylinders that each consumer would be entitled to — a move that brought forth a volley of protests. The OMCs then initiated a process of verifying the particulars of each account, to weed out ghost consumers, multiple connections in the same name or for the same family unit. Such connections, it now turns out, add up to a whopping fourth of the total. There is a case to plug loopholes further, stemming pilferage and diversion for commercial and automobile use. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to ensure that cylinders issued to connections that now stand cancelled, and that may lie around unused, are duly surrendered. Given that the deposit amounts were quite low until recently, the consumer may not feel compelled to carry them to the dealer and surrender them. A system needs to be put in place to ensure that tens of thousands of such cylinders are freed, especially since diversion of refilled cylinders for motor transport poses safety risks. It is also important to sort out supply cap issues in residential complexes that get bulk delivery through in situ storage tanks from which metered supply is made to kitchens.
Now that a large number of connections are being freed, the delivery system needs to be streamlined, supply shortages have to be avoided and safety protocols improved. New connections should be made available smoothly to all legitimate applicants. There may even be a case to relax the six-a-year cap, also in view of the fact that the subsidy burden has come down thanks to the cancelled connections: several States have already raised the cap, although the modalities remain to be finalised. Over the past half-century, the blue flame freed many Indian kitchens from the soot and fumes that typically characterised fuels like kerosene. The OMCs should take this opportunity to ensure the widest geographical availability of LPG even as infrastructure for the supply of piped natural gas catches up. This round of reform should also aim to send across the larger message that those who unscrupulously milk the system and cause losses to the exchequer will no longer be able to get away with it.
Actually this capping on cylinders is the last resort we can use. the
poor population on one side is asked to stop the burning of woods and
exhorted to use lpg and then limiting the cylinders is retrograde.
the finding of the ghost connections and the lawless ways in which the
commercial users use these household cylinder is matter of distress.
whistle blowers need to be appreciated and their security enhanced so
that they can tell if cylinders are being distributed in "black".
No capping should be there until we raise the level of poor in our
country.
A layman's suggestion: Many oil producing countries are also getting gas as a by product. This is mostly being flared and hence wasted. They are not under pressure to recover this gas since they get huge profit in oil itself. Is it not feasible to invest in these countires by putting up gas recovery and booster plants so that we will get gas at a low price. There is an added attraction to this proposal. we will be contributing to environmental protection as well.I think we will get some incentives on this account.
Let us reserve our gas reserves for future generation.
Our society is full of flaws. We have enormous (mis)use of subsidy not only in LPG but almost in every commodity. But one thing is sure that all these can not be stopped in one day. A sincere and honest effort is required to plug the loopholes. I think that like OMC, government need to prove that its subsidies can not be misused. Government shoul make a portal where common people may share the trick of how subsidy is being misused. Another thing is that if government or oil companies want one connection per family then they should also focus on their service front. We have a great problem in accessing the things. No body can live without food. So there should be some innovative ways to provide a faster service. At least if we are ready to pay so we should get it.
Govt sees LOSS in Subsidised LPG/Petro/Kerosene !!!
Why Govt sold for FREE 2g spectrum,Coal blocks, Why Govt incurred $
5 billion loss for Reliance Capex. Why No serious efforts in bringing
back black money. WHY GOVT Opposing SC SIT on black money? Why GOVT
is hell bent on recovery from common man and SLEEPING/Participating
in the Looting of Indian Resources.Why Give Corporates TAX waivers.
Why allow P-Notes to enter INDIA. Even $10 billion investor via P-
notes does not give his NAME or ADDRESS or NATIONALITY. NO KYC. why
demand KYC from common man wanting to open a savings A/c with Rs 500.
Why NOT SELL Indian Natural Resources at market prices and STRICT
TERMS which FAVOR INDIA's interest. HOW MUCH MONEY can be raised
then. WOULD IT NOT EXCEED total TAX collections SEVERAL TIMES. WHY
NOT DO IT????????????????????????????????????
The reduction in subsidies was inevitable to deal with the fiscal
deficit of the country. But it was never going to be enough until
eliminating the loopholes in the distributing system. The initial
efforts seems to be very promising indeed.
1. Are LPG cylinders available mainly in urban areas and not across
the vast majority of the country? If so, should any subsidy, for
however many cylinders, be given only to the privileged few living in
towns/cities and not to the masses living in the country? Mahatma
Gandhi said, “India lives in its villages.” Should we not put right
this INJUSTICE urgently, and make LPG cylinders available across the
country?
2. India cannot ignore international market conditions; oil and gas
are in huge demand internationally and are scarce, ‘non-renewable’,
resources produced in a very few places world-wide. NATIONAL INTEREST
requires India to reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of
energy.
3. India must allocate “subsidy for LPG” in a rational context of
national resource allocation, across eg education, health etc. EQUITY
demands cool heads to allocate subsidy ‘only to the poorest of the
poor and no one else’.
Our public distribution system is an example to many other country. Still it has to be modified from time to time based on the emerging situations.The argument that LPG can not be made free to all is acceptable.There should be a judicious thinking in it.Let the high income group and those are having considerable extent of land may pay high price for the cylinder and those who are really "poor" and have less than 5 cents of land may pay less or subsidized price.Meantime Government and all other agencies should promote alternate fuel other than the conventional ones for cooking and heating.People are not that aware of seriousness of the depletion of fossil fuels and other petroleum products.Majority of people think matters indistinctly therefore they can not speak and act with exactness.
Measuring consumption patterns for a short period and then fixing it as
the basis for future dispensing is flawed. What if the family expands,
say by marriage, child birth? What if it reduces by death, children
moving away etc.? I feel that LPG must be provided based on the number
of people living in a household, and that can be derived from the Ration
Card. PDS can be made the central database for delivery of all subsidies
to households. The people in this database must also be cross-linked to
the CBDT database with PAN so that income can be identified.
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