Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rameswar Teli on Tuesday informed that the state has only 62 per cent coverage under the Ujjwala scheme.
Teli requested the state government to make all efforts so that the 100 per cent target could be achieved soon.
He was on a two-day visit to Meghalaya to review the status of implementation of central schemes.
The minister distributed free Ujjwala 2.0 LPG connections, E-Shram and PM-SYM cards, PPO and cheques of EDLI schemes, EPFO and ESIC cards under PRAYAS to the beneficiaries of Meghalaya at a programme held at the Shillong Club here.
Ten beneficiaries from the East Khasi Hills district received free LPG connections.
Eleven beneficiaries were provided with Pension Payment Order (PPO) as part of the PRAYAS initiative for Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav 2022.
Ten beneficiaries were given E-Shram cards while PM-SYM benefits were distributed among five beneficiaries.
Teli also highlighted the Centre’s focus on exploration and production of oil and natural gas that is aimed at making India a self-reliant country in energy requirement, and said that the work on meeting the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol is on track.
The minister also said that exploration for oil and natural gas will soon start in Meghalaya besides other states of the North East.
Teli informed the gathering that gas pipelines would be laid across all the Northeastern states.
He said the project to lay the gas pipeline would be executed by Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd and work will start very soon. Under this project Meghalaya too is included and this pipeline will extend till Shillong, the work for which will begin very soon.
The minister also discussed the initiatives of the Labour and Employment Ministry to bring in transparency and accountability through reforms and enforcement of labour laws.
Teli also mentioned that PM-SYM (Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan) being introduced for old age protection and social security of unorganised workers. Under the scheme unorganised worker aged between 18 years and 40 years can get enrolled and receive an amount of Rs 3000 after attaining the age of 60 years. The minister requested everyone to popularise the scheme and mobilise the target groups and eligible workers for enrolment under the scheme. He said the central government has also taken several initiatives to increase the enrolment under PM-SYM Scheme.
Later in the day, Teli also took a review meeting of officials of the various departments of the state government where he took stock of the implementation of various centrally sponsored schemes.