Mumbai, Jan 8 (IANS): Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam Tuesday demanded an immediate hike in the number of subsidized cooking gas cylinders to 12 from the present nine to provide relief to poor people.

In a letter to Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily, Nirupam said that since September 2012, the central government had restricted the number of subsidized cylinders to six per annum for each household.

This decision had led to a lot of opposition and nationwide protests and even the Congress had protested the unreasonable cap to the party high command, the Mumbai North Lok Sabha member said.

Following the negative sentiments, the central government had hiked the quota to nine subsidized cylinders per household per year.

"Now, there are conflicting reports from government sources as to whether or not it will enhance the quota for subsidized LPG cylinders from nine to 12 per annum," Nirupam said in his letter.

He demanded that Moily's ministry should take concrete steps to provide much-needed relief to lakhs of lower income bracket households and immediately hike the quota to 12 cylinders.