Tamil Nadu CM writes to Modi over kerosene

Expressing her disappointment at the quantity of kerosene allocated to Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to undo the injustice.

In a letter to Modi Friday text of which was released to the media here Saturday, Jayalalithaa said: "We were hopeful that the trend of arbitrary and unjust reductions in kerosene allocation would be reversed and some of the cuts imposed by the previous UPA government would be restored.

"I was disappointed to learn that even in the latest order dated July 1, 2014, Tamil Nadu has been allocated only 29,060 KL (kilolitres) of kerosene per month, which was the same as was allocated for the preceding quarter."

She presumed that the allocation was made at the official level following past precedent.

According to her, the actual requirement of kerosene as per the entitlement of the ration card holders in Tamil Nadu is 65,140 KL per month. As against this entitlement, the union petroleum and natural gas ministry had allocated 59,780 KL of kerosene per month up to March, 2010.

"Thereafter, this allocation was successively reduced on 10 occasions in the last few years, despite the strong protests by my government. Now, the monthly allocation of kerosene for Tamil Nadu stands at just 29,056 KL which is only 45 percent of the state's requirement," she said.

Jayalalithaa said it was indicated to the state that kerosene allocation was reduced based on the date relating to the number of domestic gas cylinder connections provided in the state.

"However, there are many infirmities in this data base. With oil marketing companies reluctant to share their data on the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections in the state, there is a huge data gap of 56.16 lakh connections between the data released by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and the family card data on the number of LPG connections in Tamil Nadu," she said.

According to her, the reduction in kerosene allocation does not appear to be directly correlated with the increase in LPG connections as the kerosene allocation has not been reduced for some states to the same extent as for Tamil Nadu.

"Hence, I request your urgent and decisive intervention in this matter to undo the injustice done to Tamil Nadu and to allot the entire requirement of 65,140 KL of kerosene per month," she wrote.