This refers to the report "UP tops list of states with fake cooking gas connections" (March 31). On the one hand, the central government is making appeals to the public to surrender their subsidies, on the other it is looking to introduce measures to restrict subsidies to only those who can't afford to buy LPG without subsidies.
The government needs to ensure that all existing customers strictly comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. There should also be an effective checking and counter-checking system to verify the KYC details.
Despite the large number of accounts opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana, the direct benefits transfer is yet to be fully streamlined. This is instead paving way for the misuse of subsidies by ineligible people. There needs to be more emphasis on weeding out multiple connections to save enormous amounts of subsidy. The vigilance mechanism also needs to be strengthened to prevent dealers and fake consumers from manipulating the subsidies.
V S K Pillai Kottayam
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