Ranchi: Chief minister Raghubar Das launched Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat in Jharkhand from Dumka's Shikaripara block on Thursday, Republic Day-eve, a flagship exercise of the Union government to encourage rural women to shift to clean fuel.
Calling it a step forward for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Das launched this exercise at Balijor village in Mudayam panchayat, some 300km from Ranchi, where social welfare minister Louise Marandi, development commissioner Amit Khare, food and civil supplies secretary Amitabh Kaushal and other senior officials accompanied him.
In September 2017, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan started this programme from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, setting a target of 1 lakh LPG panchayats across India.
The LPG Panchayat programme will ensure poor people who get gas connection under Ujjwala Yojana continue to use it, Dumka DC Mukesh Kumar explained.
"LPG Panchayat helps Ujjwala Yojana shine brighter," he said. "If an Ujjwala beneficiary stops refilling the cylinder, the purpose of giving her a gas connection is defeated. LPG programme will facilitate continued use of gas by helping people refuel. It will also trouble-shoot complaints and sensitise people on benefits of clean fuel," he said.
Chief minister Das also distributed LPG connections under Ujjwala Yojana to 7,000 people, handing them blue books, stoves, regulators. Before this, 50,000 gas connections were distributed under the Ujjwala Yojana in Dumka.
"Jharkhand is the only state in the country which is providing stove along with the gas connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. We made provisions of Rs 300 crore for this in the budget," the chief minister said.
According to an official release, Jharkhand has fixed a target of giving 28 lakh poor families LPG gas connections in 2018. Last year, gas connections were distributed to 10 lakh people. Das said LPG connections would save people from environment and health hazards. "Also, we are trying to eliminate middlemen," he said, appealing to people to play watchdogs for proper implementation.
On the government's focus on Santhal Pargana, development commissioner Khare said Rs 50 crore each had been allocated for Pakur and Sahebganj as a special package.
Das surprise stroll
Chief minister Raghubar Das on Thursday night took to the streets on foot in Dumka town as part of a surprise inspection of the ambience and other facilities. He also drank tea at a local stall near Pokhra Chowk. The chief minister will hoist the Tricolour on Republic Day in Dumka.
