Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday had direct conversation with three beneficiary women of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh under Ujjwala Yojana, through video conferencing.
The Prime Minister spoke to five beneficiaries of the scheme, including from those in Chhattisgarh today, and asked about their experiences.
The Prime Minister through video conference from New Delhi spoke to beneficiaries Meena Nirmalkar from Saragaon, Urmila Sinha from Mandhar and Vimla Tandon from Navedi, who were present in NIC room of Raipur District Collectorate and asked them if they are getting the benefits of the scheme properly.
The Prime Minister started the conversation with 'Jai Johar'.
Modi also asked them about the betterment in their health after getting the smoke-free kitchen under Ujjwala Yojana. He also asked them about how they are encouraging their neighbours to avail the scheme.
Meena Nirmalkar of Saragaon, Raipur told Prime Minister that earlier when she used to see gas stoves in other houses, she used to miss having one at her home.
Moreover, it used to be time-consuming and a lot of work to arrange for wood, cowdung cakes etc for cooking. But now after getting gas stove under Ujjwala Scheme, cooking has become easier and a lot of her time is saved, she said.
Meena said that she informs her neighbours about Ujjwala scheme and other schemes and benefits of the same.
It is noteworthy that Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched in Chhattisgarh on August 13, 2016. Under this scheme, a total of 21, 17 ,887 connections have been provided in the state.
This has led to increase in use of lPG in the state. Earlier, only 31 out of 100 families had lPG connection, but after launch of the scheme this number has increased to 66 families.
Approximately 4 crore women in rural areas have received lPG connections so far, through the Ujjwala Yojana in the country. In all, nearly 10 crore new lPG connections have been issued in the four years since 2014, as compared to 13 crore in the nearly six decade period from 1955 to 2014. In his initial remarks, the Prime Minister quoted a story written by Munshi Premchand in 1933, to highlight the importance of easing the lives of home-makers. He said Ujjwala has brought about benefits through better health outcomes, freedom from poisonous smoke and cleaner fuel and said women now have a greater opportunity to earn extra income, as time spent on cooking has been reduced.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the Central Government has been paying attention to ensure that there are no middlemen involved in this scheme, and the beneficiaries are chosen through a transparent process.
He said that 69 percent villages in India now have 100 percent lPG penetration, while 81 percent villages have more than 75 percent lPG penetration. Interacting with the Prime Minister, beneficiaries explained how the lPG connection had reduced time spent on cooking, and enhanced the quality of life for the entire family.
