Taking a big leap, the state government has decided to unveil the LPG direct cash transfer scheme from the Wardha district. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will launch the scheme on June 1. Food and civil supply minister Anil Deshmukh made the announcement on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters, Mr Deshmukh said that the Union government used to provide nine subsidised LPG cylinders to domestic gas consumers every year. “To transfer the cash subsidy component directly into the bank account of the consumer, the Centre has decided to launch direct cash transfer scheme in 20 districts across country on a pilot basis and Wardha was one of them.”
He added that based on the results, the scheme would be extended to all the 14-crore LPG consumers of the country. The aim of the scheme was to eliminate the leakages in the system and address the problem of diversion of domestic cylinders for the commercial market.
Mr Deshmukh stated that it is necessary to have an Aadhar card linked with the bank account to become beneficiaries of this scheme. Wardha district has a total of 2.16 lakh domestic gas consumers and 80 per cent of them possess Aadhar card, but only 40 per cent have linked the Aadhar card with their bank accounts.
“We have given a three-month deadline to all of the domestic gas consumers of the district to procure an Aadhar card and link the same with the bank account. Till then, the gas subsidy will be given to them through the old system,” food and civil supply minister said.