Common sense the most uncommon sense :: IOC's new steps on LPG
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 26, 2012 -

A queue outside a LPG agency to get refill File-pic :: Pix - TSE

There is something profound in the observation 'common sense is the most un- common sense'.

And the Indian Oil Corporation seems determined to take this to a higher plane if its decision to block the LPG connections of consumers coming under the same name, same address, different names but same address and incomplete address is any indication.

The six LPG per year per consumer cap is apparently the main reason for the new measure, but does it make any sense to apply this in a place where the genuine consumers have been getting only four or less refill from the agencies per year ?

Quixotic decision is a term that comes to mind. This in effect should effectively rule out the 6 LPG cylinder cap as the driving factor for the new measures that have been adopted.

On the other hand the compulsion felt by the IOC to come up with this measure is also a reflection of the genius at play behind the booming LPG black market.

To get a better understanding of the issue, it needs to be seen and studied from either side of the spectrum.

Under the new measures enforced by the IOC, 14,697 connec- tions of LPG consumers have been blocked under the parameter of same name, same address, different names but same address and incomplete address till date.

How many of these connections are bogus consumers or how many of them are genuine customers is yet to be worked out, but the action initiated under the laid down ambit reflects a stand that has refused to acknowledge the ground reality in Manipur.

On the other hand, it could also mean, some smart genius putting their best foot forward to beat the system by floating bogus consumers and then feed the black market. The question of who can be in a position to manufacture such bogus customers does not fall in the realm of the unfathomable. Common sense should be enough to tell us who they are.

Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister M Okendra has already written to the Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy as well as the Chairman of the IOC asserting that such a measure would not be feasible in a place like Manipur.

There is weight in this argument, for unlike other parts of the country, the concept of house numbering is yet to be scientifically worked out. The reality also tells the story of different households living under the same roof.

This means an address can have three or four households, which would translate to more than one gas connection. Yet at the same time, the effort of the IOC should also be seen in the light of some hands manipulating the consumers' lists to flood the black market.

In taking up corrective measures, some innocent or genuine consumers may be victimised, but this does not explain why the IOC should first go ahead with the measure without trying to get a grasp of the reality that is Manipur.

This is where the question of common sense becoming the most uncommon sense gains credence. Crack the whip by all means, but do that by taking the ground reality into consideration. v It makes no sense to let genuine consumers suffer just because the rules and regulations were not followed by the dealers and the agencies in the first place.

Why should the common citizens be always made to pay the price of some mischief makers, who in any case have been milking them dry. Roll back the measures.

This however is not to suggest that steps should not be taken to axe the bogus consumers and nail those who drew up the bogus lists.