SK Oil aplenty in stores, only a few drops for public
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 19 2012: Even after due allocation order regarding SK oil for the month of June has already been issued, dealers have not yet lifted the allocated quantities.

Reluctance of the dealers to lift SK Oil from the depot which is meant for distribution to the public even as the current month is entering its latter days has exposed the dirty games being played by high-ranking Government officials and SK Oil dealers.

According to information received from IOC Divisional Sales Office, Imphal, the State Government issued SK Oil allocation order for the month of June on June 1 itself.

Though it is the 19th day of June, only 740 Kls of SK Oil have been lifted from the depot as against the monthly quota of 2112 Kls.

This is a strange departure from the earlier practice when dealers rushed in to lift SK oil once the allocation order was issued.

The allocation order issued on June 1 also directed dealers to submit utilization certificates for the SK Oil lifted in the previous month.

No longer seen : Mobile SK oil sellers

In accordance to the directive, Deputy Commissioners, excepting Senapati and Thoubal districts, have submitted utilization certificates.

The Senapati DC could not submit the utilization certificate on account of the seizure of 36 Kls of SK Oil, said the source.

Another reliable source informed that the dealers could not lift SK oil for the month of June as the quantities of SK oil allocated for the month of May are still in their storage tanks.

Storing May's SK oil quota till the last part of June without distributing the PDS item to public is not without reason.

SK oil shares allocated in the month of May are still in the storage tanks of dealers because they could not sell off the commodity in black markets due to the intensive drive launched recently by the Special Investigating Unit against hoarding and black marketing SK Oil.

In accordance to the shares allocated to different dealers, concerned DCs and officials should issue permits to agents.

But the officials have not been doing this.

That is why, each household could get only two to three litres of SK Oil at the most in a month.

Whereas SK oil shares for the month of May are still in the storage tanks of dealers, DCs have already submitted utilization certificates for fear that the monthly allocation for June may get lapsed.

Some dealers even told the IOC Imphal Divisional Sales Office that their storage tanks were full of oil and they did not have space for storing additional SK Oil.

Under the prevailing situation where the whole business of distributing and marketing SK oil has been completely monopolised by a clique of dealers, black marketers and Government officials, there is a strong fear that major portion of SK Oil quota for the month of June may get lapsed or simply disappear, added the source.