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The government on Friday announced over half the country’s cooking gas consumers, or 76.3 million households, had joined the cash transfer scheme that aimed at reducing the subsidy through better targeting of beneficiaries.
“More than Rs 1,260 crore have been transferred into beneficiary accounts so far. Consumers in rural areas are joining in large numbers. In the last one month more than 40 per cent of consumers in Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya have joined the scheme,” the petroleum ministry said in a statement.
It also said Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Arunachal Pradesh had posted above 35 per cent growth in the number of people joining the scheme.
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The government started cash transfer of the cooking gas subsidy across the country, or in 676 districts, on January 1 to transfer the subsidy into bank accounts of consumers within 48 hours of delivery of a gas cylinder. The National Democratic Alliance government had started the cash transfer scheme in 54 districts in mid-November.
Consumers have three months to link their gas connections with bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers. After March consumers will have to buy gas cylinders at market prices but the subsidy for the next three months will be kept in an escrow account which they will receive as soon as they provide their bank details.
Linking bank accounts with Aadhaar is not required under the scheme although the government is encouraging consumers to do it. Linking with Aadhaar numbers is expected to weed out duplication.
Aadhaar has enrolled 728 million people and claims to have covered 75 per cent of the population in 16 states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
Cooking gas consumers are entitled to 12 liquified petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders or 34 bottles in a year at subsidised rates. Any purchase beyond these has to be at the market price. A subsidised 14.2 kg LPG cylinder is available for Rs 417 in Delhi and the subsidised 5 kg bottle for Rs 155.
PAHAL, as the scheme has been nicknamed, is the largest cash transfer programme in the world. Similar schemes cover 22 million households in China and 12 million households in Brazil.
Between November 15 and December 31, the sale of subsidised cylinders in 54 districts where the scheme was being implemented grew 9 per cent against 17 per cent in the remaining 622 districts. There are 152.4 million active cooking gas customers, 74.1 million have become compliant with the cash transfer and 52.3 million have linked their Aadhaar numbers.
In addition, 18.3 million customers have seeded their Aadhaar numbers with LPG distributors. The government intends to cover 75 per cent of eligible customers by February 28.
