Hyderabad, March 12 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao, also known as KTR, on Thursday, wrote to the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, urging immediate intervention to address the severe shortage of commercial and domestic LPG cylinders.

In his letter, Rama Rao highlighted that the disruption in LPG supply is severely affecting hotels, eateries, PG hostels, and small food businesses.

He warned that if the supply is not restored immediately, thousands of establishments could be forced to shut down, leading to severe hardship for lakhs of workers and students who depend on these services.

To address the crisis, the BRS Working President proposed a set of practical measures to the Central government.

He suggested introducing a tiered LPG allocation system to ensure that small vendors and vulnerable businesses receive priority supply.

He also suggested the creation of a real-time public dashboard to provide transparent information on LPG cylinder availability across districts.

The BRS leader urged the Union government to implement a temporary price freeze on commercial LPG cylinders to prevent additional financial burden on small businesses during this crisis.

He also called for strict action against black marketing, where domestic LPG cylinders are illegally diverted for commercial use and sold at inflated prices.

In addition, KTR requested that PG hostels in IT corridor areas, which house lakhs of students and employees, be treated under a special protection category to ensure uninterrupted LPG supply.

He also stressed that gas-based crematoriums must be classified as essential services, so that their operations are not disrupted due to the shortage of LPG cylinders.

He highlighted that lakhs of daily wage workers dependent on the hotel and food sector could lose their livelihoods if kitchens are forced to shut down.

Describing the situation as a serious crisis affecting the livelihoods of lakhs of people, KTR urged the Union government to take immediate, coordinated action to restore LPG supplies and safeguard essential services across the country.

–IANS

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