BPL families to get free LPG connections from December

BENGALURU: The state government will launch a scheme to provide free LPG connections to BPL families in December. Under the Anila Bhagya scheme, beneficiaries can get a gas connection, a gas stove and two cylinder refills.Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader said applications can be filed online and registration is expected to start in the next 15 days. “We will require one month to process the applications and we will launch the scheme in December. Any BPL card holder who does not have a gas connection can apply,” he said.

People can go to the nearest gram panchayat in rural areas and to ward offices in urban areas to enrol for the scheme. Applicants will have to furnish Aadhaar. Once the application is filed, the name of the applicant will be cross-checked with the Socio-Economics Caste Census list to make sure they are not beneficiaries of the Centre’s Ujjwala scheme, which provides a gas connection and a gas stove but the consumers have to pay for the stove. The cost per beneficiary for the Anila Bhagya scheme would be `4,040, which will be fully borne by the state government. The total cost incurred is expected to be `1,100 crore and above. The Centre’s scheme Ujjwala has failed to take off in the state as they are expected to have only 6-7 lakh beneficiaries.

The department expects to get 15-20 lakh applications and the government is prepared to have 15 lakh beneficiaries.Khader added that they were in talks with the Centre who has to supply the cylinders through the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. While the Centre has agreed to provide an additional 1 lakh cylinders per month, the state has placed a demand for 1.5 lakh cylinders. Officials said the two burner gas stoves would be delivered to the residences and gas distributing companies might have to improve their infrastructure in rural areas to enable door-to-door delivery of cylinders.