Amaravati, Oct 21 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday announced that the supply of free cooking gas cylinders for all eligible women in the state will be launched on October 31 on the occasion of Deepavali.
The Chief Minister held a meeting at the state Secretariat with the Minister for Civil Supplies Nadendla Manohar, officials of the Civil Supplies Department, along with representatives of Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, mainly focussing on the guidelines to be adopted while implementing the 'Deepam' scheme.
Naidu told the meeting that despite facing certain financial constraints, the state government will move ahead in implementing the welfare schemes which will be highly beneficial to the people, particularly the poor.
The Chief Minister asked the officials to ensure the implementation of the 'Deepam' scheme in a transparent manner. Under the scheme, all eligible women will get three free cylinders in a year.
Naidu directed the officials to make arrangements to book the cylinders much in advance, particularly from October 24, as the supply begins on October 31.
"The money that the women spend on gas cylinders can now be utilised for other domestic purposes," the Chief Minister felt. He believes that such schemes will certainly help improve the living conditions of the poor. This is the reason why the state government has decided to go ahead with the scheme despite financial constraints, he added.
The Chief Minister was very particular that the officials should ensure that there would not be any complaints whatsoever from the eligible women. He said that his government is committed to the welfare of women in the state.
Secretary, Civil Supplies, Veerapandyan made a PowerPoint presentation on the free gas cylinders supply. He mentioned that the retail price of each domestic gas cylinder is Rs 876. The Centre is providing Rs 25 as a subsidy. Veerapandyan informed that the additional financial burden on the government for implementing the free gas cylinders scheme will be Rs.2,648 crore. For the five-year period, the total additional burden will be Rs 13,423 crore.
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