Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched by the central government in 2016 with the aim of enabling women in the country to live in a smoke-free environment, providing clean fuel for cooking to poor families in the country, and improving the health of women in poor families. Under this scheme, the work of providing gas connection to eligible families in Maharashtra is going on in collaboration with oil companies. Currently in Maharashtra, it is not financially feasible for some beneficiaries who have gas connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and other poor category gas connections apart from this scheme to recharge their gas connections at the market rate. Also, it was brought to the notice of the government that after one cylinder is used up, the cooking equipment is not available until the other cylinder is available, as a result of which they are harming the environment by cutting down trees. Taking this matter into consideration, the Chief Minister Annapurna Yojana has been announced while presenting the supplementary budget of the Maharashtra government for the year 2024-25. In accordance with this announcement, the government has taken a very important decision for women sisters to provide free refill of 3 gas cylinders annually to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana as well as to the beneficiaries of Chief Minister-Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The government has decided to provide annual free refill of 3 gas cylinders to about 52.16 lakh beneficiaries of the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and to the families of the eligible beneficiaries of the Chief Minister-Mazi Ladki Bahin Yojana. This scheme is being implemented under the name “Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana”. Eligibility of Beneficiaries:-• The gas connection must be in the name of a woman to get the benefit of this scheme.• At present around 52.16 lakh beneficiaries who are eligible under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the state will be eligible for this scheme. • Families of beneficiaries eligible for “Mukhya Mantri-Majhi Ladki Bahine” scheme will be eligible for this scheme. • Only one beneficiary in a family (as per ration card) will be eligible for this scheme.• This benefit is limited to 14.2 Km. Gr. Gas holders with weighted gas cylinder connections shall be permissible. *Methodology of the scheme:-**A. Follow-up Procedure for Beneficiaries of “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala” Yojana-* Regular distribution of gas cylinders to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is done through oil companies. 3 free cylinders to be given under the Chief Minister Annapurna Yojana of the state government will also be distributed through oil companies. At present, the entire market price (average Rs.830/-) of the gas cylinders distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is collected from the consumers. After that, the subsidy (Rs.300/-) provided by the Central Government under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is directly deposited in the bank account of the beneficiaries. On the same lines, the oil companies should deposit approximately Rs.530/- per cylinder to be paid by the state government in the customer’s bank account. The list of beneficiaries who have been given the benefit of the state government scheme by the oil companies will be published by the companies on their website. Also, information of beneficiaries will be made available to the government every week. Similarly, in this scheme, the customer will not be given subsidy for more than one cylinder in a month. There is a difference in the price of the cylinder district wise. Because, on the basis of the price of the cylinder finally distributed by the oil companies, as well as on the basis of the district wise price of the cylinder, the amount actually spent will be paid to the oil companies. Comptroller, Ration and Director Civil Supplies, Mumbai as well as all District Supply Officers/All Foodgrains Distribution Officers certified list of cylinder details distributed by oil companies to district wise beneficiaries along with payment along with recommendation of amount to be provided to oil companies, Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and To be submitted to Department of Consumer Protection, Mumbai. It will be submitted to the office of the Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Mumbai for payment after ensuring that the beneficiaries will not be misled. The responsibility of disbursing the final amount to the oil companies district wise has been given to the Office of the Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department.*b. Procedure to be followed for the beneficiaries of “Chief Minister-Majhi Ladki Baheen” Yojana-* 3 free cylinders to be given under the Chief Minister Annapurna Yojana of the state government will be distributed through oil companies. In this scheme, the customer will not be given subsidy for more than one cylinder in a month. In this department, for administrative convenience, the supply system is working under the collector office in Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs and Thane urban area, Mumbai-Thane ration area and other districts. Due to this, the government has ordered to form a committee for Mumbai-Thane Ration Zone to select the eligible beneficiaries for gas cylinder from among the beneficiaries of “Chief Minister-Mazi Ladki Baheen” scheme as follows- 1) Controller, Ration and Director Civil Supplies Mumbai-Chairman 2) Coordinator in Mumbai-Thane Ration Zone, Oil Companies-Member3) All District Women Child Development Officers in Mumbai-Thane Ration Area-Member4) Representative of all Oil Companies in Mumbai-Thane Ration Area-Member5) Ration Officer, Controller, Ration and Director Civil Supplies Office, Mumbai-Member6) Deputy Controller, Controller, Ration And the Director Civil Supplies Office, Mumbai-Member Secretary as well as, the Government has ordered to form a committee at the district level for Mumbai-Thane Ration Area and other districts as follows-1) Collector/Additional Collector of concerned district-Chairman 2) District Women Child Development Officer-Member 3) Oil Companies District Co-ordinator-Member 4) Representative of all oil companies in the district-Member 5) Assistant District Supply Officer/Assistant Foodgrain Distribution Officer-Member 6) District Supply Officer/Foodgrain Distribution Officer-Member Secretary Working Class of Committees:- • “Chief Minister-My Beloved Sister” Scheme Beneficiaries (Ration According to the card) determining the family. • To ensure that the beneficiaries of the scheme are not misled. • To determine the Aadhaar certified final list of beneficiaries fulfilling all the criteria, with Aadhaar attached bank account number. Family wise information of the beneficiaries of the “Chief Minister-Mazi Ladki Bahin” scheme determined by this committee, Ration and Director Civil Supplies, Mumbai/District Supply Officer/Food Distribution Officer The government has informed about giving to the oil companies in their area of operation. According to the information received, 3 gas cylinders per year will be provided to each beneficiary family from the oil companies at the market rate. Eligible families who have refilled the free cylinders will be informed by the companies to the concerned supply system on a weekly basis. The concerned supply system as well as oil companies have been informed to ensure that there is no distortion in giving cylinder benefits to the beneficiaries of two schemes namely “Mukhyamantri Annapurna” and “Mukhyamantri-Mazi Ladki Baheen”. Controller, Ration and Director Civil Supplies/District Supply Officer/Foodgrain Distribution Officer after verifying the information of district wise eligible beneficiaries received from the oil companies, and after getting the approval of the committee, the information of the beneficiaries will be submitted to the Office of the Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, 8 5th Floor, Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital Complex Building, Lokmanya Tilak Marg, Mumbai-01 has been instructed by the Government. In Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana, the full amount of gas cylinders will be recovered from the beneficiaries for the first 3 cylinders from the oil companies. After that, the entire amount to be paid by the State Government, i.e. approximately Rs.830/- per cylinder, will be deposited in the customer’s bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) from the Office of the Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Anapuvgrasamvi. There is a difference in the price of the cylinder district wise. So ultimately based on the price of cylinders distributed by the oil companies, as well as district wise cylinder prices, the actual cost will be paid to the consumers. Through Maha-IT, a separate login will be made available at the zonal level and to the Financial Advisor and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Mumbai office. Also technical support will be provided by Maha-IT as required. The list of beneficiaries to be made Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) from all the concerned field offices will be submitted to the Financial Advisor and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Mumbai office for provision in Login after verification as per the details fixed by the Department. The government has ordered the concerned zonal offices to take proper vigilance so that there is no double occupancy of the beneficiaries. According to the details received from the regional offices, the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been instructed to be done by the Financial Advisor and Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Mumbai office. According to this government decision, it has been decided to give the benefit of this scheme only to the beneficiaries who are eligible on July 1, 2024. Ration cards separated after 01 July 2024 will not be eligible for the benefit of this scheme. For effective implementation of this scheme, redressal of consumer grievances, redressal of grievances related to reimbursement to oil companies as well as overall operation and coordination of the scheme, a committee has been constituted at the state level under the chairmanship of Controller, Ration and Director Civil Supplies, Mumbai:-1) Controller, Ration and Director Civil Supply Mumbai-Chairman 2) Commissioner, Women and Child Development Commissionerate, Maharashtra State-Member 3) Financial Adviser and Deputy Secretary, Anapuvgrasamvi, Mumbai-Member 4) State Level Coordinator, Oil Industry, Maharashtra State-Member 5) State Level Representative of All Oil Companies-Member 6) Deputy Controller (Executive) ), Controller, Allotment and Director Civil Supplies Office, Mumbai-Member Secretary This Government decision is available on the website www.maharashtra.gov.in of the Government of Maharashtra and its reference is 202407301150453906. Manoj Suman Shivaji San District Information Officer Thane