The Telangana Congress government on Tuesday launched the implementation of two more of its poll guarantees – 200 units of free electricity for every household and LPG cylinders for Rs 500. The subsidised LPG scheme and the electricity supply scheme are titled ‘Mahalaxmi’ and ‘Gruha Jyothi’ respectively.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy launched the two schemes at a programme held at the Secretariat in the presence of Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers.
Revanth said that within 48 hours of coming to power, the Congress had implemented two of its guarantees.
On December 9, the government launched the scheme to provide free travel facilities for women in TSRTC buses and enhanced medical cover under Rajiv Arogyasri from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The Chief Minister said that despite the false propaganda by the opposition, the government remained committed to implementing its poll guarantees.
“There is no question of this government backtracking on any of the promises made by Sonia Gandhi,” he said, adding that the Congress will present Telangana as a model state for the entire country.
He recalled that CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had announced six guarantees on September 17, 2023, at a public meeting in Hyderabad.
The Chief Minister formally launched the two schemes by distributing the benefits of the schemes to five women.
While the UPA government had implemented a programme providing an LPG cylinder for Rs 400, the government led by Modi hiked the price of LPG cylinders to almost Rs 1,200, the CM said.
The BRS government did nothing to provide relief to commoners despite the hike, but saw the rise in LPG prices as a source of revenue for the government through GST, he added.
In a veiled attack on the BRS, he said that people are not ready to believe the lie being spread against the Congress government’s social welfare schemes by the ‘father and son.’
He said that a word given by Sonia is like an “inscription on a stone” and that his government would implement it in such a way the promise is written in golden letters in history.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka said Congress’s rivals created apprehensions in the minds of people about the guarantees but they were proved wrong from the very second day of this government when two of its guarantees were implemented.
He said the government is implementing its promises despite problems and alleged that the BRS government during its 10-year rule turned revenue-surplus Telangana into a debt-riddled state.
The Deputy CM said the households consuming up to 200 units of electricity per month will get ‘zero bills’ from January.
Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said all white ration card (food security card) holders will get LPG cylinders for Rs 500 and that this would benefit 40 lakh families.
According to a Government Order, only those white ration card holders who have applied for the scheme during the Praja Palana programme will be eligible for the subsidy. They should have an active domestic LPG connection in their name.
The LPG cylinders which can be availed by consumers will be limited to the average of their last three years of consumption.
The government will transfer the required amount, in advance, to the oil marketing companies (OMCs), every month. OMCs will transfer the subsidy amount by Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT) to the beneficiaries.
This method of releasing the subsidy is being done on a pilot basis and the Civil Supplies Department and the Finance Department will introduce a model for the delivery of LPG cylinders on payment of Rs 500 only, said the GO.
