MANGALURU, February 5, 2015
Updated: February 5, 2015 05:37 IST
GOVIND D. BELGAUMKAR
Dakshina Kannada stands 26th in the State in terms of coverage.— File Photo
Only 64 p.c. of LPG consumers have seeded accounts
With only about 64 per cent of the LPG consumers registering themselves for the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL), now named Pahal, Dakshina Kannada is at the 26th position in the State.
Registering for the scheme is now inevitable for LPG consumers who want to continue to get subsidy on LPG from the new financial year. Those who fail to link their account numbers to the Pahal scheme – through their LPG distributor or the bank – will have to forgo subsidy for the refills from April 1.
According to C.S. Sharanabasappa, Deputy Director, Food and Civil Supplies Department, till Tuesday evening only 64 per cent of about 3.5 lakh consumers in the district had seeded their accounts.
He said there appeared to be slow realisation in the district that the scheme was here to stay and more people were showing interest now to opt for the scheme.
While districts such as Mysore, Dharwad and Tumkur – with over 75 per cent registrations – were at the top, Dakshina Kannada was ahead of districts such as Koppal, Yadgir and Vijayapura.
Though the phenomenon was surprising given the fact that Dakshina Kannada had achieved 100 per cent success in the Jan Dhan scheme aimed at providing everyone with a bank account, authorities attribute the slow progress in Pahal scheme to people’s previous experiences. When the UPA government sought to seed Aadhaar cards only for the cash transfer scheme, Dakshina Kannada was included in it in the last phase and just when people had begun to show interest in it after much opposition to it, the Supreme Court decision objected to making Aadhaar compulsory for government benefits. The scheme remained stuck.
A top executive of an oil company, who wished to remain anonymous, said that “people are not crowding up to register” but offered no reason for the phenomenon. He hoped that this would improve.
Mr. Sharanabasappa said in places like Mulky, 80 per cent of the consumers had registered for the scheme.
An oil company executive said people could download forms from myLPG.in.
They should click on one of the three LPG cylinder icons – each representing an oil company. They should then click on ‘Join Pahal’ icon and then on ‘Pahal forms’ to access the relevant link. Though the details could be submitted online, the registration will be complete only when a first page of passbook or a cancelled cheque leaf showing the bank’s IFSC code and branch name is given to the distributor.
Once the registration is complete, the consumer will get a credit of Rs. 568 in his account, which could be used to buy an LPG refill. Post purchase, the subsidy will be credited to their accounts.