Cooking gas distribution in Kerala got stalled almost totally on the first two days of the New Year due to confusion over the lPG price hike that came into force on Wednesday and the deadline for linking Aadhaar number with bank accounts for getting direct benefit transfer (DBT). Gas distribution will return to normal in the State only next week.
The distribution of lPG cylinders had been hit to great extent on Wednesday morning itself after TV channels reported a huge hike in price for which there was no confirmation from the part of the State Government. The worry of the consumers whether December 31 deadline set for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts for DBT would be extended was another reason.
While briefing the media over a meeting of the State Cabinet at Wednesday noon, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he was informed by Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily that lPG price had not been hiked and that a two-month extension had already been granted for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts for DBT in the case of Kerala.
This created confusion for the lPG distributors who had already been informed of a price hike and had not got any information on the decision to extend the deadline for Aadhaar-bank account linking. IN that context, they resorted to suspension of distribution, bringing unimaginable hardship for about 200,000 consumers State-wide on the New Year day itself.
Scores of trucks laden with lPG cylinders got stranded in the yards of the bottling plants of the Indian Oil Corporation in Udayamperoor in Ernakulam district and Parippally in Kollam as gas agents refused to take stock. As protests began, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob said that the uncertainly would end soon but that did not happen.
By Thursday morning, the IOC was forced to suspend bottling operations as the trucks remained stranded in its yards even as protests from the consumers and the Opposition parties mounted. Even Congress leaders like TN Prathapan MlA and VM Sudheeran joined the Opposition in attacking the State and Union governments over the confusion in the cooking gas sector.
A sense of calm returned to the sector in the State only on Thursday afternoon after Moily confirmed in Delhi that the price of lPG had indeed been hiked by `220 per cylinder for domestic connections and `350 for commercial consumers.
The Centre also granted a two-month extension for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts in Kerala, reports from Delhi said.
IOC authorities, lPG distributors and the Civil Supplies Department said it might take two more days for the lPG distribution to return to normal in the State. “The disruption was caused by a communication gap over the price hike. That confusion has now been removed and things will return to normal now,” said Minister Anoop Jacob.
The extension of the deadline for UID-bank account linking by two months would ensure that the price hike does not affect the subsidy-enjoying consumers but protests against the steep price hike raged across the State. Restaurants and bakeries across the State would remain closed on Friday in protest against the price hike.
Senior Congress leader VM Sudheeran asked the Centre to give up the scheme of making UID-bank account linking mandatory for gas subsidy and called for a rollback of the hiked price. “Governments in a democracy should not to adopt decisions that go against the interests of the people,” he said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Stating that it was a mistake to permit the oil companies to determine prices of products, Congress MlA TN Prathapan said, “Such decisions would force the common people to wield brooms.” Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan said that the UPA Government’s decision went against the interests of the people.