The Modi Government’s top priority is the welfare of the poor, said Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday while addressing people.

He was inaugurating a crude oil pump station at Hidigaon, near Chandipur, the Paradip-Baleswar section of lPG pipeline and capacity enhancement of the lPG bottling plant at Kuruda in the district. Pradhan claimed while only 20 per cent people in Odisha had lPG connection in 2014, it has reached 62 per cent during the Modi Government.

In Baleswar, the lPG connection was 19 per cent but now it has reached 60 per cent. Besides, the lPG connection has increased from 9 to 35 per cent in Mayurbhanj, from 15 to 45 per cent in Keonjhar and from 15 to 75 per cent in Bhadrak. While in the four districts, there were 2.80 lakh lPG consumers in 2014, during the Modi Government, 4.30 lakh new connections were provided thus taking the number of lPG consumers to 7.10 lakh, Pradhan said. 

He said after the inauguration of the pipeline between Paradip and Baleswar, the lPG would no longer be carried on road but through pipe which would reduce the transportation cost and pollution. The lPG bottling plant’s capacity has been increased from 60 lakh cylinders to 1.30 crore with the commissioning of the new project.

He said the number of distributers has also increased in the four districts from 119 in 2014 to 202. This would create new employment opportunity. He added as a part of the pro-poor programme of the Centre, the cost of the house under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) has been hiked from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh.

Pradhan maintained that the Modi Government wants to give Rs 12,000 to every household for setting up latrine. He lamented that only 45 per cent households in Odisha have been covered under the scheme. He also said that while the Centre is providing 90 per cent of the funds for electricity to all, still 40,000 households stay unconnected in Odisha. He charged the BJD Government for not properly executing the scheme.