CM’s statement on Ujjwala misleading, says Pradhan

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Bhubaneswar: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Friday termed as “misleading” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s claim that Ujjwala scheme is a “failure” in Odisha and said beneficiaries have taken about 1.2 crore LPG refills.
“Your recent statement about Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) as an unsuccessful scheme in Odisha .. Your statement appears to be devoid of facts and misleading,” Pradhan said in a letter to Patnaik. The Petroleum Minister shot off the letter, copy of which was released to the media, two days after Patnaik claimed at BJD’s foundation day function here Wednesday that Ujjwala scheme was a “failure” in Odisha as people were unable to go for refill due to high cost of LPG cylinders.
Stating that more than 35 lakh connections have been given under PMUY so far in Odisha, Pradhan claimed the scheme has played a critical role in significantly enhancing the total number of LPG consumers from 19 lakh in May 2014 to 72.5 lakh in 2018 in the state.
The LPG coverage in Odisha has also been expanded from 22 per cent in 2014 to 69 per cent in 2018, he said adding with the recent decision of the Centre to expand PMUY to achieve universal coverage, Odisha would soon achieve LPG coverage over 90 per cent.
“Insofar as the issue of purchase of refill by the beneficiaries, you may appreciate that adoption and sustained use of LPG is originally linked to behavioural change, cooking habit, economic status of the family,” Pradhan said.
“In this background, it is heartening to see that in Odisha, PMUY beneficiaries have consumed nearly 1.20 crore refills and per capita consumption is nearly 3.7 refills, which is in consonance with the national average consumption by beneficiaries,” he said.Further, about 4.2 lakh consumers have taken four or more refills, he said adding this clearly indicates a marked behavioural change amongst the common man in Odisha to make a transition towards clean and sustainable source of energy.
He said the Centre is also bearing subsidy on LPG refills to protect the consumers from price volatility. The subsidy is transferred directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries through the DBTL (PAHAL) eliminating leakages and role of the middleman.
In Odisha, the subsidy per cylinder is Rs 326.22 which fully protects the consumers from any price increase, he added.
“I sincerely hope that the above stated fact shall assuage your concerns. I also expect that the state Government extends wholehearted support in expanding the gas infrastructure to cater to the increasing demand of LPG in the state such as allotment of land for Khurda LPG bottling plant,” Pradhan said.