Sandeep.Moudgil@timesgroup.comBengaluru: The state government appears to have taken a leaf out of PM Narendra Modi's Ujjwala scheme to provide subsidies for gas connections to the poor, and in fact, has gone a step forward by providing free gas stoves and connections under Anila Bhagya for BPL families in the state. The scheme is likely to be launched from May 1.With the 2018 polls in mind, the state government has decided to provide as many as 5lakh gas stoves for beneficiaries covered under the Ujjwala scheme. Those not covered under Ujjwala, but still considered a below poverty line (BPL) family, will be given free gas connections.Having divided the Anila Bhagya scheme into two parts, after it was announced in the 2017-18 state budget by chief minister Siddaramaiah, the food and civil supplies department decided to give all BPL families "something"."The first part of the scheme is to provide Ujjwala families free gas stoves, considering they are getting a discount of Rs 1,600 per family for a gas connection. The second part of the scheme is to subsidize the entire gas connection for Anila Bhagya beneficiaries by paying Rs 1,920, the market price for the service given by oil marketing companies (OMC)," said outgoing food and civil supplies department secretary Harsh Gupta.Gupta said the plan was to cover 10lakh to 12lakh families of 20 lakh homes who don't have a gas connection in Karnataka under the state government scheme, with the rest getting free gas stoves as an incentive from the state.It is said the Centre, on hearing about the gas subsidy by the Congress government, shot off a letter recommending all gas subsidy schemes be brought under the Ujjwala umbrella, if the state wanted to pay OMCs any subsidy for the gas connection.But the state government decided to reject this recommendation, and go out on its own. "With the Centre not acceding to our request of paying OMCs directly, we will ask BPL families under the Anila Bhagya scheme to pay for the gas connection and later get it reimbursed by the government," Gupta said.The beneficiaries of Anila Bhagya scheme will be cross-referenced with the socio-economic caste census (SECC) 2011, which is the premise for the Ujjwala scheme, by local gram panchayats in rural areas and urban local bodies (ULB) in urban regions.The department is working on a software to de-duplicate beneficiaries under the two schemes, and should be ready by the end of this month to start doling out benefits from next month.

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