PANAJI
Chaotic scenes were witnessed across Goa on Saturday with crowds converging and queuing up outside municipalities and panchayats as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched the enrolment process for the free LPG cylinder scheme.
It promises direct financial assistance for three domestic cooking gas cylinders every year to beneficiaries.
Even as Sawant called it the State government’s Raksha Bandhan and Ganesh Chaturthi gift to Goans, application forms were released through panchayats, municipal councils and Swayampurna Mitras across the State.
Beneficiaries have been asked to submit completed forms at Civil Supplies Department taluka offices between September 5 and 8.
Sawant said the first round of benefits would be credited directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts on September 9 or 10 with an estimated 2.5 lakh households expected to be eligible.
Launching the scheme virtually, the Chief Minister said Goa had already achieved 100 per cent LPG coverage and had become a kerosene-free State, eliminating the need to draw the Centre’s kerosene quota.
He added that people in rural areas who still do not have LPG connections can apply for fresh connections.
Under this ‘Ujjwala Scheme’ the government is providing a flat annual benefit of Rs 3,000 (approximately the cost of three cylinders) annually from the current 2026-27 fiscal onwards.
Sawant said a domestic LPG cylinder currently costs around Rs 950, taking the annual cost of three cylinders to about Rs 2,850.
Under the scheme, beneficiary households are grouped into two categories. The first, Category A, covers women receiving widow pensions, social security pensions or benefits under the Griha Aadhar scheme. They need to submit their bank passbook and LPG consumer documents and no additional documents will be required.
The second, Category B, covers women above 18 years of age who are not beneficiaries of any of these schemes. They must submit an Aadhaar-linked bank passbook along with the application.
Only one from each household will be eligible for the benefits.
Sawant said, there is no income ceiling for the scheme and the government aims to eventually cover nearly three lakh beneficiaries.
Long queues were seen outside panchayat and municipal council offices across Goa as people rushed to collect the application forms but Sawant appealed to citizens not to crowd offices, assuring them that sufficient time had been provided for enrolment.
He also directed local bodies to ensure easy access to forms and provide assistance in filling them.
