TIRUPPUR: In light of heavy rains, tribal people in Udumalaipet taluk have appealed to the State government to allocate more kerosene at PDS shops. Though card holders in tribal settlements get a maximum of two litres of kerosene per month, residents alleged that it is not enough.
Speaking to TNIE, N Manikandan of Thirumoorthy tribal settlement said, “Every household has solar panels installed that help to power a 60 watts bulb and charge mobile phones. But heavy rains reduce the availability of sunlight and force the tribals to use kerosene lamps. But the fuel runs out within four to five days. The government must increase the quota of kerosene as our situation is different from others.”
M Kavitha from Isalthattu settlement said, “Earlier, we used to get five litres of kerosene from PDS shops. However, over a period of time, this was reduced to two litres. When we raised questions about this, local authorities refused to reply.”
Mavaduppu tribal settlement Moopar Kuppusamy said school-going kids are most affected by the issue. “Most of the children write homework in their house. Children are accustomed to reading or writing using lamps, but if the lamps go off, what will they do?” he questions.
District Civil Supplies Officer (Tiruppur) A Maharajan said, “Kerosene is supplied by the Union government, and the state government only distributes it through the civil supplies department.”
“As the allocation of kerosene has been reduced for the past several years, no excess stock is available in any PDS shops and we can’t even divert the stock from one area to another. So, we will check about creating a special category to offer extra kerosene to these tribals in hilly areas,” he added.