BJD targets Pradhan for Ujjwala ‘failure’

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Bhubaneswar: Targeting Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Saturday alleged that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has failed to achieve its goal in the state.
PMUY is one of the major schemes implemented by the Narendra Modi government to provide free LPG connections to people in rural areas. The Centre has claimed that 5 crore connections have been given under the scheme so far.
Addressing a press conference here, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha (RS) member PK Deb said the BJP is claiming that the scheme has reached 5 crore households across India and it is a successful scheme. However, the data provided by the Union Minister tells a different story.
“As per a written reply giver by Pradhan in the RS, over 30.48 lakh connections were given in Odisha under the scheme, which was launched in May 2016. While 8.18 lakh beneficiaries took second refill in 2016-17, the figure fell to 6.45 lakh in the financial year 2017-18,” Deb said.
As many1,05,508 people got gas connections in the last two years in Angul, which is the home district of Pradhan. Interestingly, only 35,406 have refilled the cylinders in the financial year 2016-17 and it has reduced to 16,950 in the last fiscal, he pointed out.
A person provided with LPG cylinder by the BJP is not going to refill the cylinder for the second time. This picture proves that the scheme is a failure, he alleged.
The BJD leader further said, the Centre cannot blame the state government as neither the state has selected the beneficiary nor distributed the gas connections. The list is being prepared by the BJP leaders and also distributed by them in events organised by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).
Beneficiaries are not refilling the cylinders as they have to refill it at market rate and the subsidy amount is also not credited to their bank accounts in time. Gas price hike, lack of banking facilities and net connectivity in some areas are some major reasons that have led to the failure of the scheme, he added.
Reacting to the allegations of BJD, Pradhan said, “Ujjwala Yojana has proved as a model for developing countries across the world. If this scheme is not successful, it would not have been overwhelmingly accepted by the women.”
Hitting out at the BJD, the Union Minister said, those who are displaying their intolerance by presenting selective facts are identifying their opposition towards the poor, tribal, women and general public of Odisha. “I will pray before God to forgive the person showing ignorance,” he stated.
State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty said the process of selection has been transparent. Till date, there is not a single complaint about the selection of beneficiaries from any part of the state.