Inspection ritual continues as LPG shortage hits households

The government’s decision to strengthen market monitoring in the face of the cooking gas shortage in the Kathmandu Valley is a familiar event. We have seen this happen time and time again. Every time the country passes through a critical political phase such as the present one, fuel, gas, and essential commodity shortages seem to crop up. The current shortage is happening at a time when the country is under a caretaker government that is not exactly in a position to take decisions. This is the very phenomenon that we have seen happening around us. The joint teams of the Department of Commerce, Supplies, and Consumer Protection, the Nepal Oil Corporation, and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology have begun to inspect the market to check for any hoarding. The fines of up to Rs 300,000 may sound draconian. However, the question that comes to mind is, why does the government begin to take measures only when the gas supply is running low? The immediate cause for the shortage is the election season. However, the underlying cause is a different story altogether. Some bureaucrats sense the weaker government’s position and try to take advantage of this, while some unscrupulous middlemen, hoarders and profiteers take advantage of the situation and create a false shortage that hurts the common man.