TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: North Goa has become one of the 18 districts across the country to benefit from the Centre’s ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, by way of which subsidy (Rs 435) on LPG cylinders would be provided directly to consumers in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
The Central scheme was flagged-off by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in the capital. The scheme will benefit 2.60 lakh customers in north district and 73-odd lakh customers spanning over 18 districts in eight states and two union territories.
With the launch, all those customers who have completed the formalities of seeding their Aadhaar numbers with their LPG distributors and respective banks, and have booked cylinders, have been transferred the advance subsidy.
Parrikar said the subsidy will be deposited in the bank accounts using the Aadhar platform. He also said the scheme will reduce at least 25-30 percent misuse of gas cylinders.
“The scheme will eliminate all fake LPG connections and diversion of cylinders and ensure that benefit is transferred to the intended beneficiary thereby curbing leakage in the subsidy delivery system,” he explained in the presence of Secretary Civil Supplies P Krishnamurthy.
For those LPG customers, who are yet to link to the DBT system, a grace period of three months (from June 1, 2013 to August 31, 2013) has been granted.
Parrikar, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, said Goa does not require subsidized LPG cylinders in addition to Central’s government scheme of providing nine subsidized cylinders to each family in a year.
The Centre in January hiked a cap on the subsidized LPG cylinders from six to nine and offered partial relief to consumers with effect from April 2013.
Parrikar said a survey by the Civil Supplies Department showed the average consumption of LPG cylinders in each family is 7.8 per year, which reduced to five this year. “That’s why Goa need not worry. The number of cylinders given is more than the average. If there is any need, we will think about it,” he said responding to a question.
… Allays fears over admissions
PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who also holds the Education portfolio, said the government has permitted higher secondaries to increase their intake capacity by 10 pc for this academic year.
“Once we increase the capacity it will take care of 1,500-2,000 students. Few schools have started additional divisions to accommodate increasing number of students for admissions. There are 14-15 extra divisions created in various higher secondary schools,” Parrikar stated allaying fears over admissions to class X pass outs.
By Monday, the exact number of enrollment and waiting list of students will be released to the government.
Parrikar said future steps will be decided thereafter.
