Shobha forced to beat a retreat on LPG

At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, some ministers brought pressure on Shobha to withdraw the GO as the process of weeding out the bogus LPG claimants was not done in a scientific manner.

The ministers, who opposed the ‘cleansing act’ of the department, reportedly told Shobha that she should not be unduely concerned about the ‘bogus connections’ as it was the Centre which was supplying the subsidised cylinders.

Gowda, soon after he became chief minister, had expressed his reservation regarding the removal of illegal connections which was countered by Shobha.

In the meeting, with too many senior colleagues raising objection, she had no choice but to announce she would withdraw the GO. Shobha was not available for comments.

Cancelling process

The department has already commenced the process of cancelling LPG connections of 24.53 lakh consumers across the State.

It had planned to continue to supply gas to 54,04,638 consumers.

The department has completed the exercise of identifying illegal gas consumers. As per data, the total number of gas connections is 78,41,419. The number of connections cancelled is 24,36,751 as the beneficiaries had failed to furnish information sought by the department.

As many as 42,59,698 connections have been identified as valid for now. The department has found 11,44,940 connections where each connection may be ‘linked’ to more than one electricity connection. Nevertheless, gas supply will continue even for such consumers for the time being, department officials said.