NEW DELHI: The government is once again using its marque social welfare scheme to reach out to poor by putting money into the accounts of Ujjwala LPG connection holders to help them take the three free cylinders as part of a special scheme announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to help BPL households cope with the coronavirus lockdown.
The guideline issued for the scheme on Tuesday said the Centre will transfer the full cost of a cylinder as advance by the fourth of the month till June. This will allow the households to book the refills under the free-cylinder scheme.
The guidelines also allow the connection holder to retain the advance payment and use it till March 2021 for buying a cylinder in case a household does not take all the three cylinders under the special scheme. But, households can get only one cylinder a month and there has to be a minimum 15-day gap between two bookings for refills. These measures are aimed at checking misuse of the scheme or diversion of subsidised cylinders meant for the poor.
