Jharkhand govt to review failure of its ambitious petrol subsidy scheme

In all, 30,287 people benefitted from the scheme between April and December last year.

Ranchi: Call it a technical hurdle or departmental failure, very few have taken advantage of the Jharkhand government’s flagship petrol subsidy scheme.

In all, 30,287 people benefitted from the scheme between April and December 2023, an official said on Monday.

In a bid to support the families covered under National Food Security Scheme (NFSS) amid rising prices of petrol, Jharkhand government on January 26, 2022 had launched the scheme for the families who owned two-wheelers.

Under the scheme, a monthly subsidy of Rs 250 for buying 10 litres of petrol is credited to the bank account of a beneficiary.

Out of over 57 lakh families covered under the NFSS in Jharkhand, the government had hoped to benefit at least 20 lakh families when the scheme was launched. But, its beneficiaries started declining a few months after the scheme was launched.

Admitting the fact, state food and public department secretary Amitabh Kaushal told reporters here, "There is not much enthusiasm for petrol subsidy. We are reviewing to find out the reasons for it. If there is any issue in our policy, we will sort it out. We are trying to remove the bottlenecks so that people could gain from the scheme."

Speaking on the paddy procurement scheme, he said the government aims to procure six lakh metric tonne of paddy this year.

"Against the Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,183 per quintal by the government of India, state government is giving a bonus of Rs 117. So, farmers are getting Rs 2,300 for a quintal of paddy," he said.

He said the government has also increased the rate for rice millers to Rs 60 per quintal from Rs 20 per quintal.

Apart from foodgrains, the government is also distributing a kg of pulse at Re 1 per family covered under the NFSA and State Food Security scheme, he said.

In a bid to increase the income of dealers of Fair Price Shop, the PDS stores are being developed as common service centre (CSC). Out of 10,000 PDS shops identified, 6,671 shops have already been developed as CSC.