Senior Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, shared on Twitter the question he had asked the government in the Lok Sabha on reports that it was planning to end the subsidy on Kerosene. The image also carried the government’s response to the matter.
1/2 There have been reports about the Govt’s plan to end the Kerosene subsidy https://t.co/Too3Rn6Syg. Kerosene subsidy is essential for fishing communities, I asked the Govt in the LokSabha what steps they would take to make sure that our fisherfolk are not adversely affected. pic.twitter.com/nQHuXRXyo4
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 2, 2019
Tharoor then accused the government of evading his question entirely. He also requested Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to confirm if the government was planning to end the subsidy on Kerosene.
Tharoor claimed that ending the subsidy on Kerosene would affect the fishing communities as they depend a lot on Kerosene. Therefore, he wanted to know the measures that will be undertaken to ensure that they are not adversely affected.
2/2 Unfortunately, Govt has completely evaded my question in its answer. I request @dpradhanbjp to confirm if they are planning to end this subsidy and if so, what measures will be taken to ensure that the fishing communities are not adversely affected.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 2, 2019
In his reply, Pradhan rebuked the Congress leader calling him a “Paradoxical Intellectual” and mocked him saying that he couldn’t understand a simple answer as it didn’t have enough “fancy words” to grab his attention.
It isn’t a surprise that –
“The Paradoxical Intellectual” @ShashiTharoor is not able to comprehend a simple answer, as it doesn’t have enough fancy words to grab his attention and understand the issue. https://t.co/9QkdkFiT7c— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) January 3, 2019
Pradhan then went on to say that the Government’s answer clearly mentions that a subsidy of Rs. 15.03/litre on Kerosene. He said that the government doesn’t require any preaching from the member of a party that serves “The Family” only.
It is clearly mentioned in the reply that the Govt. continues to provide a subsidy of Rs.15.03/- per litre on PDS Kerosene. Our Govt. which is committed to the welfare of poor needs no preaching from a member of party which works for the welfare of ‘The Family’ only.
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) January 3, 2019
The Minister, in his reply in the Parliament, said, “The Government continues to modulate the Retail Selling Price of PDS Kerosene. Currently, Government is providing a subsidy of ` 15.03/ litre on PDS Kerosene. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched Direct Benefit Transfer in PDS Kerosene (DBTK) Scheme with effect from 01.04.2016 to initiate reforms in Allocation and Distribution of Public Distribution System (PDS) Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO) distribution system, to stop pilferage of subsidy and to reduce the outflow of Central subsidy on kerosene to States/Union Territories (UTs) to a realistic level.”
Pradhan also stated that the distribution of PDS Kerosene is the responsibility of the concerned states/UTs. He said, “Further, distribution of PDS Kerosene within the States/UTs under PDS network to various categories of ration card holders/consumers is the responsibility of the concerned States/UTs.”
