The government’s latest LPG booking rule – 25 days for urban users and 45 days for rural households, is not just flawed policy; it is a stark example of systemic inequality dressed up as regulation.

At a time when clean cooking fuel is central to public health and environmental goals, this decision sends a troubling message: that rural citizens can wait, endure, and adjust. But adjust to what? To smoke-filled kitchens, to firewood, to the very hardships policy interventions once promised to eliminate?

The logic behind the disparity collapses under scrutiny. Urban India, with access to piped gas, electricity, and alternative appliances, is far better equipped to handle restrictions. Rural India is not. Yet, it is the rural household that is asked to stretch a cylinder for 45 days, nearly double the urban limit. This is not demand management; it is discrimination by design.

Policies cannot claim inclusivity while quietly creating a two-tier system of access. Clean fuel is not a privilege dictated by geography; it is a basic necessity tied to dignity and health.

If the government is serious about equity, this rule must be rolled back. Because a system that makes the vulnerable wait longer is not governance, it is injustice institutionalised.