LPG crisis hits canteens: Industry canteens in Jamshedpur shift to rice menu amid LPG shortage; Workers adapt as essential meals change

Jamshedpur: Canteens at industrial units located in Jamshedpur and Adityapur have been forced to tweak their menus owing to the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders. In most of the industry canteens which serve food at subsidised rates to around 50,000 workers, roti and paratha have been replaced by rice.Kingshuk Mukherjee, who runs a canteen in a manufacturing unit in Adityapur told TOI, “Making rotis requires more gas than rice, which can be cooked in one container. Commercial cylinders have vanished from the market and gas agencies are not picking up calls or booking online. In the black market, a 19.2-kg cylinder costs more than Rs 4,500, whose actual price is Rs 1,900. I am ready to pay middlemen but still I am running short of cylinders.” Mukherjee, who has been running a canteen for the last two decades, said, “This is the first time I am facing an LPG crunch. In our canteen, we serve breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner. For breakfast, we are serving only bread & butter and boiled eggs. For lunch, rice, dal and one sabji. No non-veg items are available. In the evening, we are giving only tea with biscuits. Dinner is same as lunch.”“After consultations with my company management, my staff have stopped serving roti, aloo or gobi paratha or south Indian dishes like dosa, idli, uttapam and upma as they require more fuel. I am rationing the LPG stocks. My sole aim is to ensure the workers don’t remain hungry.”Bhusan, who owns an ancillary unit which manufactures automobile parts, said, “Workers come from far-off places and work in shifts. A canteen is very important for any factory as workers will not be able to do their job without food. Inside our factory, we cannot light up coal stoves in canteens to cook food, as it is not permitted under safety regulations. I hope the govt takes steps to end the LPG crisis soon.”He said, “We have been forced to cut down our menu. For lunch and dinner, we serve khichdi with papad and pickle. Our workers are understanding and they are making no fuss.”Roti stalls near residential areas of Steel City have shut shop. A stall owner, Raunak, said, “In the last five days, I have been running from pillar to post to get a LPG cylinder but my attempts proved futile. I am ready to pay three times more than the actual amount, but black-marketeers are unable to provide me with even a half-filled cylinder.”