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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

Dilemma Over School Uniform

School Uniform

Educationists and academic experts across the world questioned the trend of school uniforms. According to them, such policies, while aiming for uniformity, might inadvertently suppress student creativity and self-identity, vital for holistic educational development. Turning the back towards the arguments made by educationists, the Maharashtra government came with the idea of the ‘one state, one uniform’ policy and eventually messed up making mockery of the helpless students. Furious parents requested to change the uniforms, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.  


The ‘one state, one uniform’ policy aims to standardise uniforms for students in classes 1 to 8 across all government schools in Maharashtra starting from the 2024-25 academic year. Historically, state government schools had identical uniforms two decades ago, but this practice was later discontinued, allowing schools to choose their own uniforms. In rural areas, clusters of schools have maintained similar uniforms. Under the new policy, the government will provide one set of uniforms to be worn on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.


The education department of the state swung into action and took some hasty decisions. Hurriedly the state ordered that the second set, the ‘Scout and Guide’ uniforms, be worn on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, which has to be arranged by local School Management Committees (SMCs). However, SMCs have refused this responsibility, citing the inadequate Rs 110 per uniform policy set by the state.


In spite of this the distribution of uniforms was delayed by nearly four months since schools resumed for this academic year. But the script to the story was added at this juncture. Centrally-distributed school uniforms by the state government continue to be riddled with more issues like inferior quality, frays, incorrect fits and even parts of the attire missing in some cases. Due to this pathetic state of affairs, the ambitious plan of “one state one uniform” which has been marred with controversies since the beginning has run into more troubles, after the distribution of these uniforms two sets per student. Various issues with the new uniforms came to fore, teachers from government-run schools have complained of having to deal with angry parents, as they demand a return to the old practice of making and distributing uniforms at the school level.


The uniforms which were distributed to the students were of inferior quality. Many of them were torn. Incorrect fits and even parts of the attire missing in some cases. The fabric which was used for the uniforms was of low quality. The government had virtually made a mockery of the poor students.

Many students were reluctant to wear these new uniforms as people started making fun of them. Some students stopped coming to the schools.


This issue was raised also in the legislature but on the floor of the house the who cares attitude of the state government was seen.

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