LUCKNOW, March 14 -- Amid the ongoing LPG cylinder shortage, a vital but often overlooked segment-tiffin services that quietly feed thousands-is also feeling the impact.

Kalpana Dwivedi, who runs a tiffin service in Alambagh, expressed her anxiety about how she will continue serving working professionals and students, whose daily routines depend on these tiffin meals.

Dwivedi said, "The cylinder I have right now will last barely 10 more days. In a tiffin service, a cylinder usually lasts only 15 days. The real concern is that, by the rules, the next cylinder won't arrive for another 25 days," she said.

Another tiffin service operator, Poonam Mehrotra, said she is relying on an induction stove as much as possible, but rice and rotis can...