Subsidy & Oil Mafia

     Union Government is giving subsidy on to the sale of kerosene 18.82 rupees per liter that sold in the country at ration shops, as it is considered fuel of poor people, but reports of National Council of Applied Economics research points that mafia adds lower prices’ kerosene oil available at ration shops to many fold high prices’ of petrol and diesel hence earning huge profits on to its sale. Mafia spare nobody whoever comes on there way of illegal business, try to become obstacle and till date two government honest officers have lost there lives due to there actions and honesty as they try to stop, check and dare to challenge mafia, they were Indian Oil Corporation’s Sales Manager Manjunath and Yashwant Sonewaan, killed by oil mafia on 19th November,2005 and 25th January,2011 respectively when they were doing there duties in the area of lakhimpur kheera of Utter Pradesh and Maanwaar in Malegaon. It is really challenge in front of Union Government’s oil and natural gas ministry how to stop the illegal business of mafia, which is not only creating problem for honest officers to do there duties but also making huge dent on to government exchequer as government is giving subsidies on to kerosene oil so that weaker section of society get advantage of it, instead it is utilize by mafia with nexus of few officers.
     Central Government considered kerosene oil as fuel of poor section of society, thus bearing subsidies of rupees 18.82 on sale of every liter of kerosene sold at ration shops, but if we go through the report of Kirit Parikh Committee reports it says that in rural area and poor section of country are using kerosene oil 1.4 percent which is almost equivalents of not using it, but kerosene available on lower prices’ mafia is earning huge profits, and as per survey it is forty five percent of kerosene that is meant for sale of weaker section at ration shops but reaches in the hands of oil mafia, then mafia uses it two ways to sell –

• Kerosene oil they get at lower prices’ but by adding it in the costly petroleum products like petrol and diesel, earning huge profits.
• Kerosene prices’ are very high in the neighbouring countries and almost equivalents to the prices’ of petrol and diesel, thus it is very lucrative business for mafia & by supplying through smuggling, which they collected from government ration shops and steal from tankers, it sold in these countries on very high prices’, and every year 1 billion liters of kerosene is smuggling to these countries, so government is loosing 33.96 billion of rupees per year.

It is not that government has no information about the mafia activities but they are unable to control the illegal trade of mafia as mafia has access of some officials of government sector companies, right now across country petroleum products like petrol, diesel, kerosene, LDO, ATF and LPG are supplying by three Government Corporations and they are –

• Indian Oil Corporation
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
• Indian Petroleum Corporation

to stop adulteration through public distribution system proposals are coming from experts to use of marker chemical products, which also has recommendations of active charcoal. So it is really a challenge for Union Government to stop mafia for selling kerosene illegal in and outside country which will help government in two ways as it is loosing money which it gives on to sale of every liter of kerosene at ration shops plus it is not reaching to target audience of society that is weaker section, also it will help to save the lives of Oil Corporations employees as mafia killed anybody that comes on there way as obstacles to do the illegal trade, as two honest employees are killed by them. It will be interesting to see how government comes with proposal to stop the mafia in the coming days? Till date mafia’s illegal trade is uninterruptedly continue this can be seen on national highways.