Deepam 2 provides three free cooking gas cylinders a year to low-income families.
Published Nov 01, 2024 | 8:54 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 01, 2024 | 8:54 PM
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu preparing tea at Santhamma's house on Friday, 1 November. (X)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the Deepam 2 scheme, which provides three free cooking gas cylinders a year to low-income families.
The chief minister converted the inauguration in the Srikakulam district into a tea party on Friday, 1 November, when he made tea and offered it to the dignitaries, including Civil Supplies Minister N Manohar and central minister K Rammohan Naidu.
Handing over the LPG cylinder to one Santhamma, Chief Minister Naidu enquired about her well-being, before entering her kitchen and brewing the tea.
Taking to X later, Naidu said it gave him immense pleasure to inaugurate the scheme which would spare the women from using firewood. “My intention is to reduce the financial burden on the housewives and make life that much easier for them,” he said.
Expressing “double happy” to learn that Santhamma was a beneficiary of Deepam 1 scheme launched when he was the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said, It gave me immense satisfaction when I saw happiness in her eyes.”
The chief minister had on 30 October released ₹894 crore to oil marketing companies at the state Secretariat in Velagapudi near Vijayawada. The amount was for one of the three cylinders to be given free of cost to eligible beneficiaries.
The state Cabinet at its recent meeting cleared a budget of ₹2,684 crore for providing the free gas cylinders a year. The state government proposed to reimburse the consumer the cost of one cylinder once every four months.
Once the cylinder is delivered, its cost, ₹875, will be credited to his/her bank account by the oil marketing companies. The Centre is already providing a subsidy of ₹25 per cylinder.
After inaugurating the Deepam 2 scheme, the chief minister interacted with people and obtained a feed bank on the welfare schemes that his government has been implementing over the past 143 days. He then went to a single woman’s house and handed over her social security pension of ₹4,000.
Addressing a public meeting later, he tried to allay fears over the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Naidu said he had held a couple of meetings with the Centre on the issue.
The chief minister recalled the resumption of the second blast furnace. He also revealed that the works for the formation of a Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters had commenced. In a couple of days, its bhoomi puja would be performed, he said.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
