Ranchi: Keen on earning rural brownie points, chief minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday set a stiff deadline of two months to distribute pending 12 lakh LPG connections in the state for BPL families under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
The chief minister said Jharkhand aimed to achieve 100 per cent free LPG coverage for BPL families in two months, for which he asked grassroots workers to collaborate with the BJP's huge network of party members in villages.
Das was holding a review meeting at RIMS auditorium on Wednesday with State 20-point Programme Implementation Committee members to hear out existing problems in executing the Ujjwala Yojana.
Under the scheme, the Centre takes care of costs such as security deposit, regulator, connecting pipe, oven, booklet and such other things, worth around Rs 1,600 per beneficiary, and the state government gives the first LPG refill worth Rs 800 free of cost. For eligibility, at least two members of a beneficiary family, including an adult female, should have Aadhaar numbers, bank account and cellphone.
On Wednesday, many 20-point programme implementation committee members from across the state complained they did not get enough cooperation from LPG distributors, PDS dealers and officials. They said identifying beneficiaries and approaching them in person was difficult.
An unfazed Das told them, "Are you aware there is a BJP government in this state? Why aren't you using the BJP infrastructure. Take help from our booth committee members. As I have transferred the government's powers to you, you too should believe in decentralisation of power. A PDS dealer has to dispose of only 60 to 80 (LPG) applications in two months, not a big deal."
The chief minister added that as Centre had decided to give free LPG connection to every SC, ST, EBC and forest dweller family, Jharkhand had bigger challenges ahead.
"Agreed that you may face problems like a poor family's name not figuring in the SECC (socio-economic-caste census) report or a poor family that lacks an adult female member. These problems are being ironed out. You focus on the revised list of proposed beneficiaries given to you based on the SECC report of 2011," he said.
He said special camps could be held to give new LPG connections in which local MLA and MP could attend for greater transparency.
"Always remember, you are serving the poor. Don't make it a profession. I learnt some beneficiaries in Jamtara had to cough up Rs 800 each (for LPG). This should not happen," Das said even as someone from the back of the audience shouted that "beneficiaries in Pakur had to pay Rs 1,500 each".
Das asked executives of oil companies and banks to buck up. "If the IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) takes over four months to appoint 312 new LPG distributors in the state, how can the Ujjwala target be met?" achieved within two months. He praised Palamau for achieving 74 target and expressed shock that Pakur was still stuck at 12 per cent or so.
Participants included 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee vice-president Rakesh Prasad, development commissioner Amit Khare, finance secretary (expenses) Satendra Singh, food and civil supplies secretary Amitabh Kaushal, senior executives from Bank of India and oil firms and PDS representatives.
