In the wake of confusion over the Centre’s ‘Ujjwala’ and the State’s ‘Anila Bhagya’ scheme, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan clarified on Saturday that both the schemes were different, but complementary.
Speaking to presspersons after the State launch of ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’, a scheme to provide domestic LPG connections to the poor, Mr. Pradhan said that there was no confusion as both the schemes were different. “However, they are complementary. I would like to congratulate the State government on the Anila Bhagya scheme as they have said they would like to cover the poor left out of the ambit of the Socio Economic Caste Census,” he said. On being asked about the demand for waiving the cost of the gas stove under Ujjwala, Mr. Pradhan clarified that for those who could not afford to pay for the stove, the amount would be deduced from the gas subsidy on a monthly basis.
On whether the Centre was contemplating giving stoves for free, he said the State governments could chip in to help the poor as the Chhattisgarh government had done. “While the Centre provides LPG kits under Ujjwala, the State government can pay the price of the stove so that the beneficiaries will get the stove free of cost,” he said.
