Subsidised LPG cylinders are being diverted for commercial usage in hotels, restaurants, fast food centres in Srikakulam and surrounding areas, with the lack of supervision by the departments concerned.
According to sources, over 82,000 subsidised connections exist in Srikakulam and nearby mandals but the commercial connections are only 550 in the jurisdiction of three gas agencies are located in the district headquarters. Interestingly, many hotel managements do not take refills regularly but manage to get subsidised cylinders in the absence of checks by the vigilance and civil supplies. Refill of commercial cylinders weighing 19 kg costs Rs.1,087 where as domestic cylinder costs only Rs.440.
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“The government supplies 12 domestic cylinders to each family at subsidised price. But many of the poor families don’t use them completely. The hotels are luring them by offering extra money and causing huge loss to the exchequer,” said a representative of an oil marketing company (OMC). Gas agencies are under pressure from the OMCs to check this malpractice. “Frequent joint inspections and imposing of heavy penalties will act as a deterrent. Otherwise diversion will be rampant in the district,” felt a senior executive of a gas agency. The officials argued that it would not be easy to book cases since many hotels resort to practices that are difficult to detect. “The hotels make a show of using only commercial refills when officials inspect them. But many revert back to using domestic cylinders once such visits are over. OMCs should come out with their own action plan to control the menace since they are directly incurring loses,” felt a senior official.