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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.

Unemployment Leads to Anger

Maharashtra has been facing a serious problem with unemployment. Based on current data, Maharashtra has a higher unemployment rate than the entire country. The COVID-19 epidemic has worsened the state’s unemployment crisis and resulted in job losses in several industries. The unemployment rate in Maharashtra has varied over time. Mounting cases of exam paper leak has added to the problem. As many aspirants were affected by the paper leak episodes, this has now become major election issue.  


The PLFS 2023-24 estimates the State’s urban unemployment to be at 5.2 percent, against 4.6 percent in the previous year. With respect to overall unemployment rate, Maharashtra clocked 3.3 percent in 2023-24, more or less the same as the national unemployment rate of 3.2 percent for the same period. What is the root cause of this sensitive issue and answer to this question is the exam paper leak. Due to which many examinations were cancelled and recruitment across the state and departments virtually came to standstill.


The repeated incidents of paper leak put the government at the receiving end. The anger of the people took the momentum as people started debating who is guilty of shattering crores of dreams, and jeopardising countless futures. A concern common to all the stakeholders, including the Chief Minister and the Maharashtra government, would definitely be, how can the well-oiled paper-leak industry be dismantled. Within a span of few months, three government exams have caused controversy for paper leaks and alleged tampering of marks. Police investigations into the leaks have revealed that all incidents of question paper leaks involve substantial amounts of money being exchanged in the process. Many instances have also revealed the involvement of government officials, teachers, and even personnel from printing presses in these acts. Social media plays a crucial role in the rapid circulation and dissemination of leaked papers, reaching thousands of participants almost instantly, most often in exchange for money.


The youths were up in arms and they took the issue to the streets. The opposition adopted an aggressive stance and raised the issue in the legislature. Under fire from all four sides, the government decided to bring legislation.  After much hue and cry and criticism, the Maharashtra government tabled the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 in the state assembly. The Act aims to prevent paper leaks and malpractices in competitive examinations. The Act proposes stringent provisions, holding not only the individuals responsible but also the service provider or the company behind the paper leak. It proposes imprisonment of between three and five years and a fine ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs one crore.


The state government has announced that it would provide government jobs for 75,000 youths in the state.

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