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Things are changing. At least in the capital of the country. No longer does one have to wait for years before getting a connection for regular supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic use. Nor does one have to plead with a minister or a powerful politician for getting a telephone connection. Telephones are available virtually on demand in many exchanges in the country. In the capital, the waiting time for a phone connection is down to only two months.

A few months ago a colleague required an LPG connection. All he had to do was visit the nearest LPG distributor's office and present a photocopy of his ration card as proof of his residence. He wasn't even questioned about whether an LPG connection had already been allotted to another member of the household. As long as you are a resident in any part of the capital, you are entitled to an LPG connection. The colleague had to shell out some Rs 3,000 and by the afternoon he had two gas cylinders at his residence and an LPG connection from a public sector company.

Doesn't this sound unbelievable? What happened to the long waiting list for LPG connections? Till some months ago, the waiting period for a connection used to be as long as 12 to 15 years. But three developments in the last few years have completely altered the scenario.

First, the Supreme Court cracked down on the unlimited powers of ministers to sanction LPG connections out of turn. As a result of this rampant practice of almost everybody using some contact or the other to get an out-of-turn connection, the waiting period continued to remain long for those who had booked a connection through the proper channel.

And because the waiting period was very long and only a small percentage of the registered customers were sanctioned connections, the few fresh connections released during a year were sold in the open market at a premium. No wonder, a large number of those who h