National Federation of LPG Distributors of India has declared to go on a pan-India strike on Oct 1 against the government's decision on limiting the number of subsidised cylinders to six per family.
The distributors also slammed the government for making such decisions with consulting them. They also alleged that resorting to such flawed polices would promote the black market and unfair trading on cylinders.
"With the government's latest decision on LPG cylinders, both the consumers and the distributors are suffering. Without consulting us, wrong policies are being adopted that will create a black market and promote unfair trade practices," said Pawan Soni, LPG Federation's General Secretary, as reported by CNN IBN.
The opposition-ruled states are demanding for a complete withdrawal of the cap on LPG, while Congress-governed states have decided to raise the cap to nine cylinders per family from the proposed six.
Besides demanding to re-look into the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs' decision on imposing limitations on sale of subsidised cylinders, the federation has also reportedly sought to revise the commission per cylinder.
Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh justified the government's decision to impose the cap, and said that the poor families generally don't exceed the usage of more than six cylinders. Those using more than six are in a position to afford the cooking gas for a higher price.
"On LPG, we put a cap of 6 subsidised cylinders per year. Almost half of our people, who need our help the most, actually use only 6 cylinders or less. We have ensured they are not affected. Others will still get 6 subsidised cylinders, but they must pay a higher price for more," said the PM in a televised address to the nation. "We did not touch the price of kerosene which is consumed by the poor," he added.
