Minister seeks public support to check LPG black market

IMPHAL | Aug 30

Minister Karam Shyam said the sale of LPG cylinders in the black market can be controlled if all the stakeholders work together, and appealed to the public to cooperate with the government and the officials in bringing a positive change in the system. 

The consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister today chaired an interactive session of officials, IOC officials and LPG distributors at the conference hall, Old secretariat to streamline the public distribution system. 

The interactive session was held to find mechanism to control the sale of LPG cylinders in the black market. During the meeting all the stakeholders agreed to jointly work together to tackle the issue of the sale of LPG cylinders in the black market.

Shyam said the sale of rice in the open market under NFSA (National Food Security Act) and SK Oil (kerosene) has been minimised due to the joint efforts of the stakeholders. Benefits given by the government under various schemes are now reaching the target beneficiaries, he added.

He also said the public must help the authorities by giving constructive criticism. 

Speaking to the media after the interactive session, the minister said streamlining the system will take time and urged the public to encourage the government. He also said the government is fully committed to solve the grievances of the public.

He also appealed to the public not to send in applications demanding rice as all the rice under NFSA are earmarked for the target beneficiaries.

SI Singh, IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) Imphal divisional retail sales manager and State level coordinator said IOC is ready to assist the State government to control the sale of LPG cylinders. He also encouraged LPG consumers to do their refill booking through SMS service and IVRS (Interactive Voice recording System).

Probin Baruah, DGM LPG operations, Guwahati said from September onwards a concrete planning will begin to eliminate backlog by October. He also said by January 2018, the Sekmai bottling plant will be filled up with 1,800 MT (metric tonne) of LPG.

To improve bulk-loading constraints, a loading station at Guwahati and downloading facility at Sekmai will be commissioned in September. He also said, to reduce the supply requirement, some distributors and transporters will bring LPG cylinders from Silchar and Dimapur.

1. Kailun, IGP (Zone- II) & IGP (AP/Ops) assured to give all assistance including increasing vigilance on national highways to check unauthorised movement of trucks carrying LPG cylinders.

The interactive session was attended by Shri K. Radhakumar Singh, commissioner CAF&PD, Y Ranjan, director CAF&PD, Stephen Chinkhanson Guite, manager- LPG Sales, Imphal II, Z. Panmei, senior manager, Sekmai bottling plant and more than 50 LPG distributors from across the State.