Shashi Tharoor, MP, on Thursday urged the Union government to augment the supply of subsidised kerosene to Kerala, pointing out that traditional fishermen in the State are grappling with a severe shortage.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Mr. Tharoor drew the attention of the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep S. Puri to the issue, observing that the limited quantity of kerosene available through the public distribution system (PDS) has adversely impacted the operators of small fishing boats which use kerosene as fuel.
The lack of support from the Union government is worsening their misery. The allocation of PDS kerosene had plummeted from 55,000 kilolitres in 2018-19 to 15,000 kilolitres last year, Mr. Tharoor said.
The shortage of kerosene has forced numerous fishermen to cut short their working day and turn to odd jobs to earn money, Mr. Tharoor said.
