CHENNAI: The union government has rejected Tamil Nadu’s demand for additional subsidised kerosene for distribution through PDS shops, claiming that 2.27 crore households, which is more than 100% of households in the state, have LPG connections.
While the state government says 30 lakh households in TN do not have LPG connections, the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, in an RTI reply, said the LPG coverage in Tamil Nadu stands at 102.9%. There are 2.2 crore households and 2.27 crore domestic LPG connections (excess of seven lakh cylinders) in the state, the IOCL said in its RTI reply.
The estimated number of households for every state is arrived at based on the decadal population growth between 2001 and 2011 as per the 2011 census, the RTI reply said. “As per this methodology, Tamil Nadu’s LPG coverage stands at 102.9%,” the IOCL said.
Kerosene allocated based on LPG coverage, rural electrification
The Union Petroleum Ministry allocates kerosene to states based on factors such as LPG coverage, rural electrification, and lapsed quota. “Kerosene supply has been rationalized across India since 2010-11,” the reply pointed out.
Currently, the state receives an average of 2,700 kilolitres (KL) per month against the average allocation of 12,700 KL it received per month during 2019-20. Consequently, only one to two litres of kerosene is being given to 17 to 20 lakh PDS cardholders a month residing in hilly regions of the state, sources said.
In April, the state food and civil supplies minister wrote to the union government urging it to enhance the allocation of subsidised kerosene under PDS but the centre has not accepted.
A civil supplies department official said a huge section of residents in rural and hilly areas still rely on kerosene for cooking. “The issue has been escalated. Whatever the allocation we get from the centre is being distributed among needy cardholders,” another official said.
Kerosene is provided through PDS to cardholders who don’t have an LPG connection and to those with a single LPG cylinder connection. The quantity of kerosene supplied varies between three and 15 litres per month depending on the place of residence.
Out of 2.27 LPG connections, IOCL and HPCL serve 28 lakh BPL families under the PM Ujjwala Yojana. Supply of kerosene to single-cylinder cardholders in Chennai city is nearly zero, a source said. S Govindarajan of Korattur said, “I used to receive three litres of kerosene until 2018 as an alternative fuel for my family from ration shops, but that has stopped now.”