The Mukhyamantri Anila Bhagya Scheme meant to provide free domestic gas connection to below poverty line families will be launched formally by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah before August 15, said Food and Civil Supplies Minister U.T. Khader.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr. Khader said that the Chief Minister will formally launch the programme at a function to be held at a district headquarters in North Karnataka. “The programme will be held before August 15,” he said and added that this formal launch will be followed by similar functions to be held district-wise and gram panchayat-wise.
Free stove
Under the scheme, a woman member from a below poverty line family will get a domestic gas cylinder connection and also a cooking gas stove with the State government paying the oil company ₹ 1,940. If there are no woman members in the family, then the connection will be given in the name of a male member. The applicant should submit not only his Aadhaar number but also the Aadhaar numbers of other family members.
Unlike the Union government’s Ujjwala scheme where cost of cooking gas stove is recovered from the consumer, the State government will provide the cooking gas stove free, Mr. Khader said.
The State government has earmarked ₹ 300 crore for implementing the scheme. Those who have got connection under the Ujwala Scheme will not be eligible for connection under the Mukhyamantri Anila Bhagya Scheme, the Minister said.
There are 35,44,479 below poverty line families in the State that do not have domestic gas connection. Of this, nearly 2.5 lakh families have so far received connection under the Union government’s Ujjwala scheme. In Dakshina Kannada, 4,000 of the 71,000 families without LPG gas connection have been covered under the Ujjwala Scheme. The government was reaching out to all BPL families without domestic gas connection, he said.