LPG coverage in Bengal doubled to 99% in 6 years
NEW DELHI: LPG coverage in West Bengal has more than doubled from 41% to 99% in the last six years and the state is getting connected to the country’s gas pipeline network as a result of the BJP-led NDA government’s focus on developing the eastern region, prime minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
“Ninety lakh free LPG connections were given to women in West Bengal, which include more than 36 lakh women belonging to the SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) category,” Modi told a public gathering at Haldia, the second port city in the state 118 km from Kolkata, after flagging off a clutch of projects on Sunday.
The PM was referring to his government’s flagship social welfare and energy justice scheme, ‘Ujjwala’. LPG connections are provided free of cost to poor households under this scheme. Eight crore households have been covered so far and the Budget 2021 has proposed to expand it by another crore households. Launched in May 2016, the scheme’s objective is to improve women’s health by removing harmful indoor pollution caused by cooking fuels such as cowdung cake and firewood.
