Book in June/July get refill in October : Refill after every 3 months
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 29 2015 -

This will probably go down as one of the poorest jokes in years to come.

12 refilled LPG cylinders in a year.

This is what the Government assured and it sounds great but the reality tells a totally different tale.

Book your LPG refill in June, July or August and get the delivery at the fag end of October.

Welcome to Manipur and this makes a joke of the grand announcement of the Government that a customer is entitled to 12 refills in a year.

12 in a year means one refilled LPG cylinder per month, but see the days between the date of booking and the date of delivery and it would not even work out to 8 filled cylinders in a year.

There is a reason why the page carrying the gas news in all the newspapers grabs the attention in all the households in Manipur and this says something significant about the glut of LPG supply here.

Moreover there is also a reason why there is a thriving LPG black market in the State.

No gas at the godowns of the distributors but plenty in the black market, of course at a huge price and this is more than clear that there is a thriving black market.

Difficult to believe that the black marketers can function alone without some degree of understanding with the people who matter.

Much like the fuel cartel, the reality points to the existence of a group of people with influence and money power.

The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG means that the benefits should go to the consumer and put a check on multiple gas connection but has this system really worked ?

Difficult to say how far it will go to check multiple connections and by extension black marketing of the subsidised cooking gas, but there is no denying that the nexus is yet to be broken.

There could be many reasons for the shortage of filled LPG cylinders in the State, but perhaps Imphal is one of the few places in the country where filled LPG cylinders are sold openly in the pan shops or roadside stalls.

Making more complex is the presence of an ineffective Government which has never thought it fit to crackdown on the commercial centres where the filled, subsidised LPG cylinders are used.

That there are two types of filled LPG cylinders, one the 14.2 kg filled cylinder and the other the 19 kg commercial cylinder is a point that seems to have blown over the head of the people as well as the Government.

The random checkings conducted by Government once in a while will not do and more stringent action is called for.

Using LPG cylinders meant for domestic usage for commercial purposes should not be treated lightly.

On the other hand the people too need to come around to the idea that no one has the right to use the subsidised domestic LPG cylinder for commercial purpose.

Why should the share of the common people be used by some unscrupulous elements to make quick money ?

There are still many loopholes that have to be covered but this is no reason for the Government to sleep over the matter and take things lightly.

Makes no sense to make the people buy one filled LPG cylinder at Rs 1500 in the black market when they can get it at a much lower price from the distributors.