Bhubaneswar: Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will engage more than 10,000 rural women as “Ujjwala Didis” to act as grassroot energy ambassadors across Odisha to ensure sustainability of LPG use.
“More than 10,000 Ujjwala Didis have been identified who will act as grassroot energy ambassadors all over Odisha,” Chief General Manager, IOCL & SLC Oil Industry, Odisha, Subhajit Ghosh told reporters here.
He said Ujjwala Didis will act as a bridge between existing and prospective LPG consumers and the distributors in the state, which saw phenomenal growth in LPG households. The number of households using LPG increased from 20 lakh in 2014 to almost 78 lakh in February, 2019.
Their positive intervention into the rural domestic energy ecosystem and distribution network will help all in ease of booking for refill, issuance of new connections and sustainable use of energy.
Noting that Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has contributed to LPG growth in Odisha almost singlehandedly, Ghosh said PMUY was launched in Odisha on June 20, 2016 and since then 39 lakh PMUY connections have been given to poor women without any security deposit.
While the overall LPG penetration in Odisha has gone up to 73 per cent from 20 per cent in 2014, sustainability is the cornerstone of any successfully implemented scheme.
The next logical step is to put in place a framework which shall lead to the desired effect in the socio-economic spheres of the beneficiaries on a long term basis.
In this regard, OMCs have come up with the concept of Ujjwala Didis, who are identified from PMUY beneficiaries. They analyse the impact the changing energy landscape can make in the day-to-day life of rural women and their household, said an official.
