While millions queue for hours to get cooking gas, the government has declared there is no shortage and warned that saying otherwise is a prosecutable offence. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
In a masterclass of gaslighting at national scale, the Ministry of Petroleum issued statements declaring India's energy supply is "fully secure and under control" with "no shortage of petrol, diesel, or LPG anywhere in the country" — even as Bloomberg documented 3 AM queues, fistfights at gas agencies, and households reverting to firewood. The government described reports of shortages as a "deliberately mischievous, coordinated campaign of misinformation" and reminded citizens that spreading false information about essential commodities is a prosecutable offence. The ministry urged people to avoid "unnecessary or panic booking of LPG refills," apparently unaware that when your cylinder ran out two weeks ago, the booking is neither unnecessary nor panicked — it is dinner.