State wants LPG connection in aspirational dists on fast track

BHUBANESWAR: Expressing concern over the slow pace of LPG penetration in 10 aspirational districts of Odisha, the State Government has requested the Centre to direct oil marketing companies to expedite the process for issuing cooking gas connection to beneficiaries.

While the LPG connection target under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has been enhanced to 3,45,168 beneficiaries from the previous target of 2,86,636 connections in the aspirational districts, 1,11,631 beneficiaries have received gas connection so far.

A review of PMUY progress in the State under Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (EGSA) revealed that oil marketing companies (OMCs) have completed the process of  know your customer (KYC) of 2,60,116 beneficiaries till August 2, which is 75.36 per cent of the target.

“There is a wide gap between the KYCs completed and the connections issued. This gap should be reduced by the OMCs,” Chief Secretary AP Padhi said in a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Padhi’s letter was in response to a query from Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary MM Kutty about the progress of implementation of PMYU under EGSA.

As many as 3,51,704 households in 2,807 targeted villages of 10 most backwards districts of the State will be covered under the Central scheme. Pointing out that the number of dealers operating in these districts is too less, the Chief Secretary requested the Oil Ministry to appoint more dealers.

“On an average in the 10 targeted districts, one dealer of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is meeting the requirements of 15 villages. Similarly, one dealer of  Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is dealing with 17 villages while one of Hindustan Petroleum (HP) is in charge of 14 villages. There appears to be a need to increase the number of dealers in these districts,” Padhi said.

The design of the scheme is such that the role of the State Government is limited and the main work has to be carried out by the OMCs, the letter said.

The objective of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan is universal coverage of seven welfare programmes of the Centre including PMUY in identified villages of the country with large number of underprivileged households. Highest importance is given to saturate these villages with the benefits of seven welfare programmes.
Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Balangir and Dhenkanal have been identified as the most backward districts of the State by the NITI Aayog.