(ET)
Four months after the government unveiled a Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief package to protect the poor from the economic impact of the lockdown, 31 lakh women eligible for free LPG cylinders have not got the benefit owing to non-operational bank accounts.
So far, Rs 9,670 cr have been transferred into the bank accounts of about 7-7.5 cr Ujjwala beneficiaries from April to June, as per ministry statistics. When the programme had been rolled out, the problem was more acute with 76.47 lakh women unable to get the benefit between April and June.
On March 26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, which included a major initiative of providing free gas cylinders to the poor under Ujjwala. The provision of free cylinders was made for three months from April to June — which meant three cylinders for 8.03 cr Ujjwala beneficiaries or 24 cr free cylinders.
The statistics of ministry of petroleum and natural gas reveal that 12.64 crore refills have reached against this target and the benefit is yet to reach 31 lakh women. As per the plan, the three oil marketing companies— IOCL, HPCL and BPCL – had to transfer money directly into the bank accounts of Ujjwala beneficiaries for three months.
