Confront LPG dealer in Chaudi, submit memorandum to Dy Collector
Activists while submitting a memorandum to the Canacona deputy collector.
THE GOAN NETWORK
CANACONA
Complaining that thousands of LPG consumers in Canacona suffer and do not get proper service, members of ‘Vision & Mission…Progressive Canacona’, ‘Swabhimani Jagruth Canconkar’ and ‘JanaSena’ confronted the lone gas dealer in Canacona and later petitioned the Dy Collector to make eKYC a hassle-free procedure.
Led by Janardhan Bhandari, the activists first marched to Prabhudessai Gas Service to know why awareness was not done on eKYC, and why teams were not sent to all villages to complete eKYC.
They also complained that the distributor continued to supply gas cylinders only to those who booked cylinders online.
The distributor, however, expressed helplessness without receiving directions from the company.
The activists handed over a memorandum to the distributor for submission to the company, and later marched to the Canacona Dy Collector Office and submitted another memorandum copy to Dy Collector Madhu Narvekar.
They complained that people are made to run from pillar to post to obtain gas cylinders even as Canacona taluka has over 18,000 gas connections serviced by a lone LPG company Hindustan Petroleum, which has a sole distributor, Prabhudessai Gas Service, at Chaudi.
The memorandum was addressed to the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, New Delhi, with copies to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other officials.
The activists demanded immediate village-wise awareness-cum-registration camps for Aadhaar based eKYC of LPG gas customers in Canacona taluka to avoid hardships to people of Canacona.
They also insisted that the issue of poor mobile connectivity in Canacona must be considered seriously by the HPCL and necessary steps should be taken to ease the eKYC or future mandatory booking of LPG Cylinders via Mobile, otherwise it will deprive people from getting LPG cylinders.
They claimed that since a formal deadline is not fixed by the Centre for Aadhaar Card eKYC, the HPCL or the gas agency should not harass LPG customers to complete formalities and should not deny gas under pretext of non-fulfillment of eKYC.
The activists demanded that the Department of Legal Metrology should keep a strict vigil, conduct surprise raids on gas agencies/suspected bogus LPG customers to avoid black marketing, pilferage of LPG cylinders.
They also insisted that the existing system of booking Gas (where mobile booking is not mandatory) should continue and that the people of Canacona should not be harassed till the eKYC process is resolved amicably.
