There were 1,376 customers of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), 1,590 of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and 1,175 of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) who decided to give up subsidy in the district.
Written by Nisha Nambiar | Pune | Published on:April 21, 2015 2:38 am
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “give it up” slogan urging well-to-do families and individuals to give up their LPG subsidy has led to as many as 4,141 people relinquishing it in Pune so far. Responding to the PM’s appeal, they have submitted forms available with dealers to give up LPG subsidy. Among those who gave up the subsidy on domestic gas cylinders were several LPG dealers.
There were 1,376 customers of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), 1,590 of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and 1,175 of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) who decided to give up subsidy in the district.
District civil supplies officer Jyoti Kadam said that they had spread the PM’s appeal. “We requested people…and got good a response,” said Kadam. The civil supplies office has been reaching out to dealers of all gas agencies through “word of mouth”. The response has been good, supplies officials said.
State LPG agency federation president Usha Poonawalla said that many distributors themselves had given up subsidy. “Many of the distributors came forward to give up their LPG subsidy and they are spreading the word that people should respond to the PM’s appeal,’’ said Poonawalla.
Customers can give up LPG subsidy online by visiting the gas agency website, or else approach the dealer and fill up a form. They would get a notification on his/her mobile that subsidy has been cancelled.
“It is all about conscience… People, whether distributors or IT officials or top government officials, from a cross-section of society have given up subsidy,” said another agency dealer.
Several who had given up subsidy said that the Prime Minister explaining that if each of them could give up Rs 200-Rs 250 subsidy, it would benefit a crores of poor people, had appealed to them. “Not getting Rs 200-250 subsidy is not a big deal for us and we prefer to give it up,’’ said Ujwal Oak, an IT professional who has given up the subsidy.
Several other IT professionals and citizens are now urging people to give up the subsidy.
“A group of officials from an IT company decided to give it up,’’ said Raj Naik, an IT professional who was one of those who wanted to “give it up”.
Meanwhile, Aadhaar linkage has reached 86 per cent in the district, officials said. The district administration had conducted drives to reach out to customers to get them link their LPG IDs to banks or Aadhaar numbers. The drive was on until March and it is being followed by a two-month parking period, after which customers will not get subsidy is their bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers are not linked.
The drive on at a slow pace had picked up to reach 86 per cent. Even after Aadhaar linkage, people can give up LPG subsidy by approaching the distributor and filling up a form which generates a one-time password. On confirmation of having given up the subsidy, a message is generated, official said.