Confusion over police passes, LPG supply to some homes hit

Confusion over whether or not passes are required for LPG distributors to move about during the coronavirus-driven lockdown has led to logistical issues in the supply chain, delaying cooking gas deliveries in several areas.

Distributors in Bengaluru said some of their delivery boys who were stopped by the police for not carrying police passes refused to come to work fearing repercussions.

According to All India LPG Distributors Federation Secretary Ramesh Kumar, there were 250 distributors in Bengaluru, of which only about 20 had received passes.

"Earlier, we were told that passes were not required and hence most of us did not apply. A few of them applied online and it was rejected. We understand that issuing passes for everyone is difficult. We request the police to allow delivery boys to commute with their office ID," Kumar said. There was no problem concerning availability of gas cylinders, but the delivery process had slowed down owing to issues faced by the staff, he said.

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While the police allowed gas agency vans to commute, the problem arose when the delivery staff had to commute to-and-from work on their own vehicles. The problem was more on the outskirts, where they travelled from surrounding rural areas.

The owner of a gas agency in KR Puram said the delivery staff left their uniforms in the godown every day after work for hygiene. "When they commute back in civil clothes, the police stop them at barricades. The office ID is not accepted and they ask for special passes from the police."

Fearing interrogation by the police, one of his delivery boys had stopped coming to work while he had to convince two others "really hard" before they agreed to work. "I'm having a tough time managing the staff."

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Another agency in Indiranagar, where four of their staffers had stopped coming to work, faced a similar situation. "Obviously, we have several orders pending. Each delivery person knows his locality well. It is not easy for a new person to get familiar with a locality, that too with barricades everywhere requiring us to take detours. Several orders have been delayed by 5-6 days," the owner of this agency explained.

Meanwhile, gas delivery had come to a standstill in Kalaburagi owing to a complete clampdown in the district, while supply was affected in Davangere too, Kumar said.

The Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs will look into the issue and resolve it "at the earliest," its commissioner Shamla Iqbal said.