In a windowless room of a five-storey building on Rampur Nahar Road in the Musallahpur Hatt area of eastern Patna, Prahalad Kumar, 24, and Rahul Kumar, 25, have crammed their cots, study table, coaching materials, books stacked on cemented slabs, a single gas stove with a five-kg Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder, and other essentials needed for daily use.
But their LPG cylinder is empty, and they have not cooked a proper meal since Tuesday. “We are surviving only on chura-dahi (flattened rice and curd) and sattu (roasted gram flour),” Mr. Rahul said on Wednesday. Like lakhs of other students, both are enrolled at the nearby coaching institute to prepare for competitive examinations for government jobs. They, along with their friend Shrawan Kumar, tried getting their LPG cylinder refilled, but without success.
Earlier, refilling a small LPG cylinder cost about ₹100, but since the shortage began due to conflict in West Asia, they have been paying ₹300 to ₹350. “If the crisis continues, we will go back to our village. It is better to return home than fall sick or remain hungry here,” they said. Their friend Guddu Yadav, 28, hailing from Supaul district like them, said they are waiting only for the State government’s Assistant Education Development Officer (ADEO) examination scheduled from April 14-20. “Otherwise, there is no point staying here in such a situation,” Mr. Yadav said.
