Addressing a press conference, Narayanaswamy said the beneficiaries should be BPL card holders and should not have any cooking gas connections. Residents in corporation, city municipal council, town municipal council and town panchayat limits will be considered for the scheme. Each LPG connection will cost the government around Rs 4,000 including the deposit and cost of the gas stove, he said.
Deputy commissioners have been authorised to prepare the district-wise list within the next 15 days. Residents, who have availed benefits of government housing schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Awaz Yojane, Amedkar Housing Scheme and Vajpayee Housing Scheme will be given priority.
The Social Welfare department will also provide subsidies for drinking water connection (Rs 1,500), underground drainage (Rs 5,000) to houses belonging to SC/ST families in urban pockets. The total burden on the exchequer, including the LPG scheme, is around Rs 20 crore.
The minister also reviewed the utilisation of funds earmarked for SC/STs in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
It was found that 121 of the 191 ULBs had utilised less than 50 per cent of the funds earmarked for the welfare of SC/STs.
As per the existing policy, 22.75 per cent of budgetary grants allotted to each department should be utilised for the welfare of SC/STs. Narayanaswamy said he had directed all the ULBs to prepare an action plan for utilisation of these funds.
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