Patna: Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan kicked off the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana by offering free gas connections to all Dalits (irrespective of their inclusion on the BPL list, tribals and Extremely Backward Classes).

The minister launched the scheme from Darbhanga's Beheri block in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Nitish thanked the petroleum minister for starting the second phase of the scheme from Darbhanga. When his address was disrupted as the focus turned to beneficial schemes for women and girl children, he berated the cat-callers and jovially added: "Who shall you marry if there remains a dearth of girls?"

After this jovial segue, he continued on about the beneficial schemes started by the state for women and girl children, in particular.

Nitish declared that cases of fire breaking out will decrease once the rural masses use LPG instead of cowdung, charcoal and wood. He said in the next four years, every house in Bihar will have electricity, drinking water, toilet and LPG connections. He said giving free connections to the poor was a big step towards empowerment of women. He justified giving connections in the name of women. He listed the steps taken by his government to empower Bihar's women.

Later, addressing mediapersons in Patna, the petroleum minister claimed that free LPG connections had been given to 3.07 crore households in India.