Kerala to ask Centre to raise non-domestic LPG cylinder quota

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid reports of an LPG shortage, the Kerala government on Thursday said it would request the Central government to increase the allocation of non-domestic cylinders to the state, given the growing number of guest workers. The move comes as restaurants are being forced to shut down or cut menu items due to the cooking gas shortage.

Currently, the non-domestic gas cylinders allowed for the state are capped at 20 per cent, the government said in a press statement.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to discuss urgent steps to address the shortage of cooking gas cylinders for non-domestic use in the state, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Priority norms for supply
At the meeting, the state government decided to set priority norms to prevent shortages and to form an enforcement team to curb black marketing and hoarding of gas cylinders, the statement said.

Along with this, the government also decided to form a state-level monitoring committee to oversee the daily consumption and distribution of cooking gas cylinders for both commercial and domestic use.

A district-level monitoring committee will also be formed under the leadership of district collectors, according to the statement. A specially prepared dashboard will be used for monitoring. The decision was taken during a discussion between the Chief Minister and representatives of various cooking gas companies.

The meeting also reviewed which categories should be given priority in the event of a crisis caused by the unavailability of gas cylinders for commercial use. As per the decision, priority will be given to hospitals, old-age homes, orphanages, schools, public kitchens, canteens in IT parks, and factory canteens.

Representatives of various cooking gas companies assured that guidelines would be issued on the priority distribution of cylinders. The state government will also consider including more categories in the priority list before handing it over to the companies, the statement added.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister made it clear that there should be no situation where the functioning of crematoriums is hampered due to a shortage of gas cylinders. He also directed the Civil Supplies Department to take the necessary steps to ensure the efficient implementation of measures to increase kerosene supply.

The enforcement team, comprising officials from the revenue, civil supplies and police departments along with representatives of oil marketing companies, will intensify inspections to prevent the use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes in the state.

According to the CMO statement, the Civil Supplies Department will also take steps to address any fake news regarding the cooking gas crisis.

The meeting was attended by Civil Supplies Minister GR Anil, Finance Minister KN Balagopal, Local Self-Government Minister MB Rajesh, Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak, and representatives of public sector oil companies.