POOR TO GET UP TO 8 FREE LPG REFILLS
NEWDELHI: Poor households using 5 kg and 14.2 kg cooking gas cylinders will be eligible for eight and three free refills respectively for three months as part of the package announced last month for those hit hard by the covid-19 lockdown, an oil ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.
The ₹1.7 lakh crore welfare package announced on March 26 had specified only three cooking gas cylinders for free to about 80 million poor households and led to some confusion about the number of refills for the beneficiaries using economical 5 kg cylinders, the spokesperson added.
“Those who are using small cylinders will get eight free cylinders over three months – April, May, and June – under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana [PMGKY].” The oil marketing companies have to date initiated transfer of ₹5,606 crore into bank accounts of over 71 million Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries as an advance so that they can avail free delivery of LPG cylinders under the PMGKY, the spokesperson said.
PMUY was launched in 2016 to provide free cooking gas connections to 50 million poor households. Later the target was raised to 80 million households, which was achieved six months in advance in September 2019.
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THE ₹1.7 LAKH CRORE WELFARE PACKAGE HAD SPECIFIED ONLY THREE GAS CYLINDERS FOR FREE TO 80 MILLION POOR HOUSEHOLDS AND LED TO CONFUSION
gest fuel retailer, state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), said the company has transferred about ₹2,780 crore into the bank accounts of its 37 million PMUY customers so that they can get their first cooking gas cylinders free of cost. Along with the other two state-run companies – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) – the public sector oil marketing companies have so far distributed 8.5 million cooking gas cylinders for free to poor households, the spokesperson said.
“Booking of 1.26 crore [12.6 million] cylinders has been done in this month by the beneficiaries, out of which about 85 lakh [8.5 million] cylinders have been delivered to PMUY beneficiaries. This is aimed at alleviating the hardships faced by the poor due to economic disruption by the coronavirus,” the spokesperson said.