Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 11:01 AM IST
Ujjwala has led to social transformation: PM Modi
Welfare scheme inspired by Premchand’s Idgah, uplifted poor, dalits, tribals, says Modi.
New Delhi: Asserting that his government’s flagship welfare scheme, Ujjwala, has led to a social transformation and upliftment of the poor, tribals, backwards and dalits, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said usage of clean fuel in household will create a healthy India.
The Prime Minister, while interacting with the beneficiaries of the scheme, said of the nearly four crore beneficiaries among the BPL category of the scheme, 45 per cent are dalits and tribals.
Mr Modi, who also took question from some of the beneficiaries from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, Chattisgarh’s Raipur, J&K’s Anantnag, Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri and Assam’s Dhimji, said the government wants to increase the tally of beneficiaries of the scheme from the BPL category to eight crore by 2020.
Citing Munshi Premchand’s novel Idgah’s protagonist, four-year-old orphan Hamid, who buys a pair of tongs for his grandmother Amina, who used to cook on earthen stove, Mr Modi said a prime minister of the country should also care to get rid households using earthen stove, which can also lead to health problems. He said with Ujjwala, women now gets more time to spend time with family and take up activities which could help their family.
Mr Modi also said that while Dalits got 445 petrol pumps under 2010-14 during the UPA rule, more than 1200 of them got it during 2014-18 in his government’s rule, while adding that the corresponding figures for LPG distribution centres for the community are over 900 and 1300.
“Since people started to get benefits under the Ujjwala Yojna, a big social transformation is visible. I am happy to tell you that out of its four crore beneficiaries 45 per cent are dalits and tribals... Till 2014, 13 crore families got LPG connection. This means, for over six decades the figure stood at 13 crore. It was mostly the rich people who got LPG connections. In the last 4 years, 10 crore new connections have been added and the poor benefited,” he said.
The LPG reach is now 100 per cent in 70 per cent villages and more than 75 per cent in 81 per cent villages, he said.
