Beneficiaries shy away from LPG schemes after price hike

Over 13,000 beneficiaries have not booked a single cylinder while another 20,000 have stopped at a single cylinder, under Anila Bhagya scheme

Soaring LPG cylinder prices have now hit the Karnataka government’s Anila Bhagya scheme, pushing many BPL families away from the project.

Of the 97,256 beneficiaries in the state under the scheme, over 13,000 people have not even booked a single cylinder this year, while another 20,000 beneficiaries have stopped at a single cylinder after prices crossed Rs 800.

According to officials, a similar response is being observed under Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana since last year. In Karnataka, Food and Civil Supplies Department is proposing giving five kg cylinders under Anila Bhagya to make it more affordable to the beneficiaries.

After free cylinders offered by the government are exhausted, beneficiaries are not refilling them as they struggled to pay the full cylinder cost up front in rural areas despite Direct Benefit Transfer of subsidies, say officials.

Also read: LPG Subsidy: Why only for the rich?

Anila Bhagya was launched in 2018 with an aim to cover 30 lakh BPL families. The government subsequently restricted the number of beneficiaries to one lakh. At the beginning of the year, there were 97,256 active beneficiaries under the scheme.

Data shows that over 13.8% of the beneficiaries (13,461 people) have not even applied for a single cylinder, this year. The numbers dwindled further when it came to booking the second free cylinder offered after LPG prices skyrocketed from April. As many as 32,462 people have not booked a second cylinder yet.

“LPG cylinders tend to last longer in rural households benefiting from the scheme, due to which refills are not done monthly,” an official from Food and Civil Supplies Department said. However, from the last two years, beneficiaries stop refilling after exhausting the free cylinders, which can last around six to seven months.

B H Anil Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department acknowledged the trend. The Department he said was mulling measures to address the problem faced by BPL families looking to refill. “We are mulling a proposal to provide 5 kg cylinders to make them more accessible to rural BPL households, and are in talks with oil companies for the same,” he said.