Ruling party up in arms against Centre cutting Orissa’s kerosene quota by 25 per cent
Bhubaneswar: Taking its fight over the reduction in Orissa’s kerosene quota a step ahead, the ruling BJD Monday carried out a massive protest rally against the ‘anti-people’ move of the Centre and sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention for restoration of the state’s original quota to meet people’s requirements.
“We request your kind honour for personal intervention in the matter with a line of direction to the Government of India for restoration of reduced Superior Kerosene (SK) Oil allocation of the state so as to accommodate all the beneficiaries under National Food Security Act, make available SK Oil for institutional supply and to open non-PDS outlets in each district/block/ULB headquarters of the state,” the BJD members said in a memorandum to the President.
The memorandum pointed out that while Orissa was allocated 4 lakh kl of SK Oil in 2011-12, it was reduced to 2.92 lakh kl in 2016-17. During 2016-17, the allocation was drastically reduced by 97,428 kl, which is 25 per cent of the regular allotment. The present allotment by the Centre is being distributed among 86,16,275 families, covering 3,23,33148 NFSA beneficiaries of the state and the entire list was available on the official website, the BJD said.
The ruling party said that its several requests to the Centre to restore the previous SK Oil quota have fallen on deaf ears and this has created resentment among bona fide consumers.
This apart, there was also requirement of SK Oil for bulk consumers like hostels, jails, medicals, police stations and marine & agriculture sectors. Accordingly, the Centre was requested for enhancement of the state’s quota by 40,000 kl per month, the BJD said.
However, in spite of repeated requests, the monthly SK Oil quota of the state was being reduced continuously, said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Das Burma, who led a motorbike rally to Raj Bhavan.
He said the non-card holders as well as bulk institutional consumers were experiencing a lot of difficulties to access SK Oil in the open market to meet their daily requirements for lighting purpose during power cuts or power failures.
Das Burma also pointed out that the state is frequently affected by natural calamities like floods, cyclones and droughts, during which the demand for SK Oil increases manifold.
Further, a huge number of families were residing in inaccessible hilly terrains of the state where SK Oil was essential for lighting and cooking, he said.
On the other hand, dubbing the ruling party’s move as politically motivated, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the BJD must make the list of kerosene beneficiaries public like it has made in the case of kerosene sub-dealers. Leaders of the ruling BJD, however, rubbished the allegation saying that the list of beneficiaries was already available on the NFSA portal.
To continue their fight for restoration of the state’s SK Oil quota, Biju Chhatra Janata Dal and Biju Yuva Janata Dal have decided to protest in front of the office of Revenue Divisional Commission in Berhampur and Sambalpur April 11 and 12, respectively.
Meanwhile, the state Congress has also risen to the occasion to criticise the Centre. Congress Chief Whip Taraprasad Bahinipati has alleged that the Centre had reduced Orissa’s kerosene quota which the previous UPA government had increased. “If the original quota is not restored, the Congress party will also hit streets,” he threatened.
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