Gas prioritisation takes backstage again!!

Housewives won be complaining much for the rest of the winters it seems, as the Cabinet has decided to make it the top most priority to supply gas to domestic users. There is a well thought out rationale behind this move although it is political rather economic. The fertiliser, power and general industries have been asked to stay patient and not gasp for gas as the households and commuters are the ones that matter most (for the elections it seems). That the country faces massive natural gas shortage, it is public knowledge-that the country needs efficient prioritisation of the scarce resource is unfortunately not. Every time the government takes a step forward, it takes two steps back, as the lobbies appear stronger than those at the helm of petroleum ministry affairs. Just a week ago, the CNG association and the petroleum ministry were at loggerheads as the government imposed a hefty development cess on CNG and load management was at its peak. Barely after 48 hours, were the CNG sector representatives and the petroleum secretary seen addressing the media in a joint press conference, letting the world know that the talks went successful and that the cess on CNG has been reduced by a further 10 percent, after having been reduced by 40 percent earlier. It has been stressed over and over again by none other than the Petroleum Minister Dr. Asim Hussain that the government intends to narrow the price differential between CNG and petrol in order to discourage the usage on natural gas in private vehicles. From media reports, it appears that the CNG representatives have the final laugh as the government has agreed to maintain a 50 percent differential between CNG and petrol-a move that would never discourage natural gas usage in the transport sector. CNG by all means is a blanket subsidy on a fuel that is scarce during the winters-experts have long argued that the CNG usage should only be restricted to public transport in order to benefit the needy. The domestic sector tariff structure also needs to be looked at, as it is at steep discount which encourages abuse of gas especially in the form of generators, geysers, etc. The government needs to show some spine and take difficult decisions as the gas crisis has already caused harm enough to industries and the power sector. The public needs to be let known that the optimal usage of gas is not in transport but in fertiliser, power and general industries. Playing into the hands of the lobbies might work as far as the electoral politics goes-but it will further deteriorate the economic conditions of the country.