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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.

Ratan Tata believed in leadership by trust!

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Tata

Those who haven’t seen Ratan Tata’s smile have missed out on something in life. He was an extremely gentle, warm, large-hearted person; a visionary who had great interest in using technology for the development of society. He had a beautiful disarming smile.


I first met him in 2014 when I approached him for philanthropic support for SEARCH. In our experience, donors usually try and cut down the budget but to my surprise, Tata was just the opposite, He had recently taken up full-time leadership of Tata Trusts then. I went with a Rs 20 crore proposal and instead of cutting it down, he kept urging me to add more equipment. The conversation was the opposite of what I had experienced with other donors. It was a novel experience where a donor was telling me to ask for more.


He had tremendous interest in technology and the belief that cutting edge technology could help in the development of society. He believed that tribals should also get the best healthcare. He kept asking me to get a digital x-ray machine. He had faith in the principle of justice and equality…that every person in society should get equally good healthcare.


He believed in leadership by trust. If he saw a good organisation, he supported it fully and backed it to the hilt. And then he gave them full autonomy, flexibility and support. He wanted to help people for the long term.


I joined Tata Trusts in 2015 and since then, I’ve had the privilege of interacting him during personal one-on-one meetings and group meetings. And I got the see the man he really was—a visionary who was large-hearted and warm.


In March 2016, he signed numerous MoUs with the Government of Maharashtra on water conservation, prison reforms, healthcare and so on. Since the budget session of the Maharashtra Assembly was ongoing, these MoUs were signed in the assembly itself. The then Chief Minister announced these MoUs and also stated that Tata was present in the visitors’ gallery.


The entire House, cutting across party lines, gave him a standing ovation. The House reverberated with the sounds of clapping. The admiration and respect he enjoyed across political parties was tremendous.


Tata’s love for animals is well-known. He set up a state-of-the-art animal hospital. Another incident I recall is when I had accompanied a minister for a meeting with Tata. We had gone to his office at Horniman Circle. The minister was talking excitedly and as his voice rose in excitement, Tata gently hushed him to speak softly. There was a mongrel sleeping in the same room. Tata was so concerned about disturbing the mongrel that he didn’t hesitate to even tell a cabinet minister to speak softy. But he was so gentle and almost innocent in his concern that it was extremely heart warming.


He loved technology! Thanks to him, I got the opportunity to meet and listen to one of the inventors of the genetic modification technology because he had invited him to Mumbai.


He took great interest in various issues; he was curious about everything. He contributed a lot of prison reforms, healthcare of Gadchiroli and the government’s malaria control programme. News of farmers committing suicide distressed him and he contributed towards their welfare.


He was a visionary industrialist and philanthropist. But above all, he was an extremely warm person. He loved both, humanity and the individual. There was never an occasion when he didn’t walk me to the door and open the door himself. If you left from his office, he’d wait until you got into the lift. He was a beautiful combination of yin and yang.


His smile was disarming and child-life. Those who haven’t seen his smile, have missed out on a lot in life.


(The writer is director of SEARCH in Gadchiroli.)

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