More than 40 per cent of cooking gas connections issued under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) were not vetted appropriately to avoid duplication, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

“In order to rule out existing LPG connection in beneficiaries’ household, de-duplication was to be carried out on Aadhaar of all family members. Audit noticed that out of 3.78 crore LPG connections, 1.60 crore (42 per cent) connections were issued only on the basis of beneficiary Aadhaar which remained a deterrent in de-duplication,” the CAG’s Performance Audit Report of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana said.

This reflects poorly on the government’s claims of PMUY connections being provided only to intended beneficiaries.

Highlighting more lacuna in the identification of beneficiaries and the approach adopted for distribution of connections, the CAG report said, “Laxity in identification of beneficiaries was noticed as 9,897 LPG connections were issued against Abridged Household List Temporary Identification Numbers (AHL TINs) where names of all family members and the beneficiary were blank in SECC-2011 list. Similarly, 4.10 lakh connections were issued against AHL TINs where entire detail of family except that of one member was blank in SECC-2011 list.”

Focusing on distributing more connections instead of appropriately vetting the claimants has resulted in diversion of even PMUY cylinders, according to the CAG.

“Data analysis revealed mismatch in name of 12.46 lakh beneficiaries between PMUY database and SECC-2011 data. Further, test check in field audit revealed that AHL TINs of 784 (18 per cent of 4,348 KYCs verified) intended beneficiaries were used by LPG distributors to extend benefits to un-intended persons,” the report said.

The CAG also said that due to a lack of input validation check in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s (IOCL’s) software allowed issue of 80,000 connections to beneficiaries aged below 18 years. “Similarly, data analysis revealed that 8.59 lakh connections were released to beneficiaries who were minor as per SECC-2011 data which was in violation of PMUY guidelines and LPG Control Order, 2000,” the report said.

“PMUY envisaged release of LPG connection in the name of woman. However, audit observed that due to lack of input validation check in IOCL’s software, 1.88 lakh connections were released against AHL TIN of males,” the report added.

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