Under its ambitious 'Grihini Suvidha Yojana', Himachal Government has set a target to provide 33,264 LPG connections in the current financial year, whereas as many as 22000 connections have been disbursed till October 16 to the eligible families.
“The State Government's flagship scheme 'Grihini Suvidha Yojana' has given a new dimension to women empowerment. Within about five months of launch, the scheme has already achieved its target of about 66 percent,” said Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Kishan Kapoor.
He said that Himachal Pradesh is poised to becoming the first state in the country to provide clean, smoke free fuel to each family of the state.
Under the scheme, the Food and Civil Supplies Department provides LPG cylinder, ISI mark stove, safety pipe and regulator free of cost to the eligible families. So far, the department has received 1,61,207 applications.
The State Government is spending Rs 3500 per connection. It aims to cover cent percent families of the state with LPG facility during next two years, a government’s spokesman said.
The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has envisioned the scheme as an added milestone in women empowerment in the state and made a provision of Rs 12 crore for current fiscal. Accordingly the scheme was launched on May 26 from Shimla. Rs 8 crores has been exhausted on providing 22000 connections, he said
The spokesman further said that besides empowering the women of the state, the purpose of the scheme is environmental protection also. After getting the LPG connection, women will get rid of the household smoke which has been a major threat of various ailments. The scheme is covering those families, who were left out under umbrella of 'Ujjwala' scheme of the Union Government.
Certain conditions have been emphasised to get benefit of the scheme including that the family should not have any LPG connection, no member of the family should be a government/semi-government, autonomous body, board and corporation employee and pensioner as well. No member of the family shall be income tax payer. Apart from this, no member of the family should be a registered contractor with the government agency. All those families will not be in a position to take advantage of the scheme, which were split after January 1, 2018. However, these families are put in the waiting list, he said.
The spokesman said that if the eligible families are facing any inconvenience in availing the benefits of the scheme, they can complain directly to the department. For this, the Food and Civil Supply Department has released toll free number 1967. A call centre has also been set up to resolve the complaints coming up on this toll free number, he added.
