The Union petroleum ministry has ordered to release 3,540 kl of non-subsidised kerosene to Karnataka, for supplying the same to traditional fishermen in coastal Karnataka, in addition to the already allocated 7,080 kl.
Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shobha Karandlaje said the food and civil supplies department of Karnataka had sought for the additional allocation of kerosene for fishermen, on November 6 last year. In all, 10,620 kl kerosene was allocated to Karnataka in 2021-22. “There are more than 10,000 traditional fishing boats on the state’s coast; 60,000 fishermen are directly engaged in traditional fishing.
Moreover, they are dependent on the kerosene supplied by the government for traditional fishing. Fishermen’s federations from Udupi had complained that they do not get sufficient quantities of kerosene. Hence, I brought the issue to the notice of the Union ministry of petroleum. The ministry has responded to the demand of Karnataka, and sanctioned an additional quantity of kerosene for traditional fishermen in the state,” Karandlaje said.
In a letter to the commissioner of Karnataka, department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, A K Sinha, under secretary to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, stated that the request of the government of Karnataka for allocation of the additional quantity of non-subsidised kerosene for the special need for the year 2021-22, has been considered. Accordingly, it has been decided to allocate the state of Karnataka 3,540 kl of non-subsidised PDS kerosene, in addition to the earlier allocation of 7,080 kl, Sinha stated.