HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday launched another two of the six guarantees promised under Congress’ Abhaya Hastam, at the Telangana Secretariat on Tuesday. They are: supplying LPG domestic cylinders at a subsidised rate of Rs 500 per refill (Mahalakshmi) and free electricity for up to 200 units of domestic consumption per month (Gruha Jyothi) to eligible white ration card holders. He also promised to make women billionaires and provide two lakh jobs to the youth. Later in the evening, he addressed a public meeting, Jana Jathara, in Chevella.
With this, the Congress has partially fulfilled three guarantees out of the six promised before the recent Assembly elections. Despite the reported crisis in the state economy, the Congress government has gone ahead with the implementation of welfare schemes. The government has adopted stringent financial discipline and established specific procedures to ensure that the benefits reach the intended beneficiaries.
Speaking at the launch event, Revanth emphasised that Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi had promised the ‘six guarantees’ during the elections to improve the lives of the poor and marginalised sections of society. He said the people entrusted their faith in Sonia Gandhi and gave a big mandate to the Congress in the elections.
“The objective of this scheme is to empower women and provide them with a smoke-free cooking medium. We formally launched the schemes in the Secretariat due to the enforcement of the MLC election code. We initiated the Rs 500 gas cylinder scheme to see happiness in the eyes of women,” he stated. He criticised BRS leaders for “spreading canards” against the government and said that each promise made by Sonia Gandhi would be honoured.
Who is eligible?
Applicants needed to have applied with a Praja Palana application. Applicants must have a white ration card and an active domestic LPG connection in their name. The number of LPG cylinders available to consumers will be limited to the average consumption over the last three years for their household
Mode of payment
The state government will transfer the required amount to the OMCs in advance on a monthly basis. The OMCs will transfer the subsidy amount through DBT. District collectors have been told to facilitate the registration, verification and updation of beneficiary data. This method is currently in a pilot phase, and both the Civil Supplies and the Finance departments shall explore and come up with a model for delivering cylinders at `500 in the future
For free electricity
Each eligible household whose consumption for a particular month is up to 200 units will receive a zero bill for that month. Discoms will send the details to the government by 20th of every month, after which the government will release the subsidy amount. Action will be taken against anyone found using the benefits for non-domestic purposes under the Electricity Act and the Indian Penal Code.