The Hindu : New Delhi News : NCP wants order on kerosene quota withdrawn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

NCP wants order on kerosene quota withdrawn

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 10. Opposing the decision of the Delhi Government to reduce the quota of kerosene distributed to ration-card holders through fair price shops, the Nationalist Congress Party today demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Terming the decision as anti-poor and against the basic policies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, the senior NCP leader and MLA from Badarpur, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, announced at a press conference here that his party would stage a public demonstration and sit-in in front of the residence of the residence of the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, on January 16 if the order was not withdrawn.

Referring to the order issued by Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Mr. Bidhuri alleged that the monthly quota of kerosene to the ration-card holders -- who were mostly poor people -- had been reduced by as much as 60 per cent.

"This has forced the ration card holders, almost all of whom stay in slum clusters and unauthorised colonies of the Capital and do not have connection to cooking gas, to purchase kerosene in black. While it is being sold Rs. 9.03 per litre, it is available at Rs. 30 per litre in black market. This has put an unbearable burden on the poor people of the Capital," Mr. Bidhuri alleged.

Pointing towards the policies of the ruling UPA which claimed that protecting the interest of the poor was its top priority, Mr. Bidhuri alleged that the Congress in Delhi had lost sight of its goal and was now indulging in taking anti-poor measures. A family of five was so far getting 14 litres from the fair price shop under the public distribution system, while a family of eight members used to get 20 litres and that of nine members 22 litres of kerosene. "People were expecting that the Delhi Government will raise the quota, but it is ridiculous that it has reduced the quota by 60 per cent. Now the Government has made it 10 litres per card at a flat rate. This is unscientific and illogical," Mr. Bidhuri charged.

Claiming that the Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Raj Kumar, was unaware of such a decision, Mr. Bidhuri said: "This is a serious matter as such an important decision has been taken without the consent of the Minister concerned. Neither the MLAs nor the Opposition parties were consulted or informed about such an anti-poor decision."

The NCP Delhi unit president, Rajendra Bharadwaj, and its youth wing head, Raj Kumar Gurjar, were also present at the press conference.

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