January 31, 2014
Hiking of subsidy cap on LPG and delinking Aadhar card to LPG – A moral victory for Mamata Banerjee
The central government will now allow every family to get 12 cooking gas cylinders at a subsidised rate instead of the stipulated 9. Two years ago West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee started a movement for the same cause. When the Centre threw her opposition in the air, she quit UPA.
The central government also made it mandatory for a person to possess an Aadhaar card to get cooking gas cylinders at a subsidised rate. The government faced flak for its decision and even the Supreme Court of India said that Aadhaar card cannot be linked to subsidies. WB CM had held a press conference at the state secretariat and lashed out at the UPA government over this decision. She had demanded an immediate rollback of the decision. Finally the central government has decided not to make Aadhaar cards mandatory to receive subsidised LPG cylinders, as of now.
The Government of India spent huge money to publicise the decision of linking Aadhaar to LPG subsidy. All the effort and money has gone into waste, thanks to a reckless idea pursued arrogantly by a government that didn`t want to listen to the people.
Many people in our state belong to middle or lower income group. Their family is dependent on the subsidised gas cylinders. If the cost of cooking gas goes out of reach, they will not be able to maintain their family. Cost of living is going up. Only Mamata Banerjee understood this. Truly speaking, Mamata Banerjee had thought of everybody. The big question is, did the Congress leadership in UPA II not understand the implications at that time? They did not pay any importance to the matter.
It is strange that the central government is increasing the number of subsidised LPG cylinders per annum just because their party vice president said so. What kind of rule is this? Is it because the election is near? When Mamata Banerjee demanded the same thing, why did the government not pay heed?
In a sense the rollback of Aadhaar decision, as well as the hiking of LPG cap, is a moral victory for Mamata Banerjee. Once again it has been proved the Trinamool Chairperson knows the pulse of the people and truly cares for them.
