New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Reviewing progress of the PaHaL scheme for paying consumers subsidy on cooking gas (LPG) directly into their bank accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday congratulated officials on coverage attained in the world’s largest cash transfer programme.
“PaHaL, which covers more than 9.75 crore (90.75 million) LPG consumers, is perhaps the world’s largest cash transfer programme as compared to similar programmes in other countries, such as China, Mexico and Brazil,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement following a presentation by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at a high-level meeting here.
“This is 66 percent of the total consumer base of 150.3 million. An amount of Rs.3,654 crore has already been transferred into the bank accounts of LPG consumers through 90.25 million transactions.
“The modified scheme has put in place various mechanisms to simplify enrolment and enhance consumer convenience,” the statement added.
Explaining that PaHaL aims to reduce diversion and eliminate duplicate or bogus LPG connections, the statement said data from 54 districts indicated “that the growth of subsidised LPG has reduced significantly, accompanied by a corresponding increase in sale of commercial LPG”.
The prime minister said that after the Jan Dhan financial inclusion programme, Pahal is the next big scheme which will substantially benefit the economy, the PMO said.