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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.

Language panel urges CM to revoke Hindi move; Fadnavis says primacy to Marathi

  • PTI
  • Apr 21, 2025
  • 2 min read


PUNE: The Maharashtra government's language consultation committee has urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to revoke the decision of making Hindi a mandatory third language for students of classes 1 to 5.


Fadnavis on Sunday dismissed concerns over the "imposition" of the Hindi language in the state, asserting Marathi will continue to be compulsory.

The state government has given its nod to implement the three-language formula under the National Education Policy.


Accordingly, it has made Hindi a must for students of classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi-medium schools.


In a letter to the CM on Sunday, the language consultation committee's chief Laxmikant Deshmukh claimed the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) did not consider their thoughts and suggestions before making the Hindi push.


While the government has appointed a language consultation committee to advise it on language matters, the SCERT has not taken the panel into consideration, the letter said.


"No language has been made compulsory in the National Education Policy. On the contrary, the NEP states that education should be imparted through the mother tongue.


Therefore, making Hindi mandatory as a third language is not right," the letter said.


Hindi should not be made mandatory at any stage of education. Instead, a policy should be adopted to use Hindi as little as possible, the letter said.


"It is not the language of employment, income, prestige or knowledge," the letter said, urging the chief minister to revoke the decision concerning Hindi.


The opposition parties, particularly the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), have claimed Hindi is being imposed in Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters here, Fadnavis said, "It is wrong to say that attempts are being made to impose Hindi. Marathi will be compulsory in Maharashtra. There will be no other compulsion."


"We need to understand that Hindi has not been made mandatory instead of Marathi. The Marathi language is a must," he said.


Fadnavis said the New Education Policy states that two of the three languages to be taught to students must be Indian languages.


"The New Education Policy has provided an opportunity to learn three languages. It is important to learn languages. The rule states that two of these three languages must be Indian. Marathi is already being made compulsory. You cannot take any other language, except Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam or Gujarati," the chief minister said.


He said teachers are available for the Hindi language as per recommendations.

"In case of other (regional) languages, teachers are not available," he added. Fadnavis questioned the people's perception of Indian languages and English.


"I am surprised by one thing. We oppose Indian languages like Hindi but we praise English.


Why do many people feel that English is closer to them and Indian languages are farther? We should also think about this," he said.



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