PANAJI: The supply of subsidised kerosene is likely to end with the launch of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna in May this year. The scheme is aimed at providing free cooking gas connections to end the use of kerosene for cooking.
Petroleum companies have already started implementing the central scheme and have so far allotted LPG connection with kit to 650 beneficiaries under the yojna.
Company officials have roughly estimated that there will be not more than 3000 kerosene users in the state, warning against bogus claimers.
However, the number of consumers using subsidised kerosene for cooking has come down from 1.25 lakh to 13,300 consumers, according to a figure released by the civil supplies department.
The department conducted a special drive from June to August to re-identify those who do not have LPG connection and fall back upon kerosene for cooking.
The petroleum companies are still in the process of validating the account with Aadhaar numbers of ration-card holders getting kerosene. “We received the figures on kerosene users from the civil supplies department, and it has been forwarded to all LPG dealers for the verification of names which may take a week to ensure that kerosene is not supplied to LPG users,” a HPCL official said.
The census 2011 data shows that out of 3,22,813 households, 72.7 per cent of them cook food using LPG and about 4 per cent of the households use kerosene and 22 per cent of them use firewood as fuel.
Similarly the same data shows that less than 50 per cent of tribal households have limited access to cooking gas and they mostly rely on firewood and kerosene for cooking.
An official from the civil supplies department said that demand for subsidised kerosene would come down as LPG use has been on the rise.
However, we are waiting for the verification report from the petroleum companies on validation and cancellation of names from the kerosene users list. Thereafter, we will strike off the names from the list and stop providing subsidised kerosene, he said.