Ujjwala scheme to stay beyond Sept 10: CM

Sawant said the September 9 and 10 disbursement would not mark the closure of the application process and those not covered in the first phase, even after submitting the forms, will be taken up for payment release subsequently. “Acceptance of the newly supplied forms will continue thereafter, allowing eligible beneficiaries who have not been covered in the first phase to be considered under the scheme,” Sawant said, adding that additional forms have already been made available across all panchayats and municipalities. He said the first phase would cover beneficiaries receiving Griha Aadhar and DSSS benefits, as the government already has their documentation, enabling smoother transfer of funds. “For those in the open category who do not avail benefits under any scheme, it may take around four days to streamline and transfer the money into their accounts. But eventually everyone will be covered. The disbursement may take time due to scrutiny of applications, especially those in the open category,” Sawant said. Rejecting Opposition claims that the scheme was an election gimmick or that Griha Aadhar and DSSS benefits would be discontinued, Sawant termed the allegations “false propaganda”. “Do not fall for Opposition’s false narrative. BJP government has never discontinued any welfare scheme and it will not do so in future too,” he said. He also urged panchayats and municipalities to forward applications to taluka-level Civil Supplies offices after segregating them into Form A and open-category applications for faster processing.

Civil Supplies Secretary Sanjiv Gadkar told The Goan that applications of DSSS and Griha Aadhar beneficiaries were currently being processed for the first-phase disbursement. “Once this is done, we will take up the next set of applications covering all. The scrutiny will take time and once the scrutiny is complete, the disbursement will be announced,” Gadkar said. He appealed to people not to panic and to continue submitting applications.