Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice presented SC, ST and women beneficiaries with allotment letters of temporary COCO outlets at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.
This initiative aims at making a positive difference in the lives of the poor, marginalised and lesser privileged sections of the society as envisioned by Dr BR Ambedkar.
The amendment to the scheme of divestment approved by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, last year, envisages allotment of temporary COCOs to pending SC, ST letters of Intent Holders (loI) and Widows and unmarried women, who are above 40 years of age without earning parents.
The amended scheme also provides support to SC, ST dealers, who have lost their retail outlets due to acquisition of land by Government or Government bodies and those SC, ST loI holders, who have been handed over retail outlets but couldn’t retain possession due to court case or litigation. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has extended this divestment scheme to these beneficiaries.
Speaking at the event, Pradhan said that as part of the initiative to extend divestment scheme to SC, ST and women beneficiaries, the Oil Marketing Companies under the guidance of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have offered 525 temporary COCOs to SC, ST loI holders/eligible dealers. So far, 195 SC, ST loI holders/eligible dealers have opted for issuance of loI for the allotment of temporary COCO outlets. Of the 195, 114 have been allotted to women (53 SC, 15 ST, 46 widows and unmarried women over 40 years of age).
As part of the divestment scheme, the beneficiaries will be handed over ready-made retail outlets (with all basic facilities) by respective Oil Marketing Company (OMC) and also the working capital for operating these outlets.