Kerosene shortage if Centre cuts more quota

KOZHIKODE: The state will soon be facing a shortage of kerosene if the Central Government continues cutting back the quota allotted to the state, warned the All Kerala Retail Ration Dealers Association here on Sunday.Association Secretary T Muhammedali said that while the demand for ration cards had gone up in the state, the quota of kerosene, which was not available in the open market, has come down.“A reduction of 72 lakh litres has happened in the quota of kerosene available to the state since 2010. This is in stark contrast to the number of ration cards which has increased by 6 lakh since May.The justification of the Central Government is that kerosene allotted to the state was decreased because the amount of cooking gas given has increased. But they are unaware that a large percentage of the population in Kerala depend on kerosene in their day-to-day lives,” he said.Muhammedali also said that ration shops across the state were experiencing a shortage of kerosene and were not able to meet the demand of the public.“We do not have enough kerosene to distribute to the public. By our own estimation, we need at least 20,000kl of kerosene to effectively meet the needs of the people but currently we are only receiving 15,960kl. The central government should reconsider their decision to cut the allotment of kerosene to the state in the light of these circumstances,” he said.He added that the state leaders should work actively to pressurise the Centre to increase the allotment of kerosene to the state and warned that if their demands were not met, ration dealers would protest strongly. A state body meeting of the association at Eranakulam on Monday would decide a future course of action.