Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 12 (PTI) The Kerala government on Thursday said that it would ask the Centret to increase the limit of non-domestic LPG cylinders allocated to the state considering the increasing number of guest workers.
Currently, the non-domestic gas cylinders allowed to the state is capped at 20 per cent, the government said.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for taking urgent steps to address the shortage of cooking gas cylinders for non-domestic needs in the state, a statement issued by his office said.
The high-level meeting decided to set priority norms to prevent shortages and to form an enforcement team to prevent black marketing and hoarding of gas cylinders, the statement said.
Besides that, it was also decided to form a state-based monitoring committee to oversee the daily consumption and distribution of cooking gas cylinders required for commercial and domestic uses.
A district-level monitoring committee will also be formed in the districts under the leadership of the collectors, according to the statement.
A specially prepared dashboard will be used for monitoring, it added.
The state government decided to take the urgent steps in a discussion held by the CM with representatives of various cooking gas companies.
The meeting also reviewed which categories should be given priority in case of a crisis due to non-availability of gas cylinders for commercial use, the statement said.
It was decided that priority will be given to hospitals, old age homes, orphanages, schools, public kitchens, canteens in IT parks, and canteens in factories, the statement said.
The representatives of the various cooking gas companies assured that guidelines will be issued on priority distribution of cylinders.
The state government will consider which other categories should be included in the priority order apart from those already identified and then the list will be handed over to the cooking gas companies, the statement said.
The CM made it clear in the meeting that there should be no situation where the functioning of crematoriums should be hampered due to shortage of gas cylinders, it said.
He directed the Civil Supplies Department to take necessary steps for ensuring efficiency in the measures to increase supply of kerosene.
The enforcement team comprising revenue, civil supplies, police and oil marketing company representatives will intensify inspections to prevent the use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes, the statement said.
The statement said that the Civil Supplies Department will also take steps to deal with any fake news regarding the cooking gas crisis.
The meeting was attended by Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil, Finance Minister K N Balagopal, Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh, Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak and representatives of public sector oil companies, the statement said. PTI HMP SA
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