The new modified scheme provides relief to consumers
(Photo: PTI/File)
New Delhi: The government on Saturday reverted to the previous UPA government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to give subsidy to consumers on LPG cylinders. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Informing about the decision of the CCEA, finance minister Arun Jaitley said, "We have decided to implement a modified DBT scheme, as we revisited the scheme design and processes. After a thorough review, we approved it, which will alleviate the hardships
LPG consumers faced in the scheme’s previous avatar." The relaunch of the DBT scheme is being implemented in 54 districts from November 15, 2014 and in the rest of the country from January 1, 2015, he said. According to an official release, the subsidy per domestic subsidised LPG cylinder shall be fixed and all LPG consumers who join the modified DBT scheme in future can receive cash subsidies by linking their Aadhaar number with the LPG connection and bank database as the primary option or directly into the bank account without necessarily linking it with Aadhaar as the secondary option.
The new modified scheme provides relief to consumers and also conforms to the Supreme Court order, which said that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for government schemes and services for lack of any legal backing to it.
"The UPA government had only linked it (DBT) to the Aadhaar platform. There were some legal issues, including some court orders, which had prevented the effective implementation of the scheme. Therefore, we have decided that in addition to the Aadhaar platform, all those who have a bank account will also get the LPG subsidy in their accounts directly," Mr Jaitley said.
LPG consumers who have opened accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana too would benefit from the revised scheme. The minister said over six crore such accounts have been opened so far. "Those who are still left outside the scheme, those who neither have an Aadhaar identity or a bank account. The cylinder system will be still available for them for some time," Mr Jaitley said.
All LPG consumers who had already joined the scheme solely based on Aadhaar will start getting subsidies in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts after the scheme is launched. LPG consumers will get a grace period of three months during which consumers who have joined the scheme will get subsidy in bank accounts and others will continue to get cylinders at subsidised price.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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