People of Jharkhand will not need Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders in future as the Government will ensure that all households here are connected to gas pipelines, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said on Friday.
Speaking at an event organised for launch of several schemes under the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Das said that households here will soon get gas at home the way they get water from taps.“The State and the Centre are working consistently to ensure ‘Ease of Life’ for people of Jharkhand,” he said at Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur.
Das said that the scheme of piped gas may have been launched only in cities in the initial stage, but the Government plans to provide gas connectivity through pipeline even to rural households in Jharkhand. “The gas pipeline scheme will also reach villages in Jharkhand soon,” Das said. The Chief Minister said that the State ensured speedy acquisition of land for the projects under the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the result of Jharkhand’s prompt actions is visible in the fact that the State has already launched gas pipeline scheme in Ranchi and Jamshedpur.“Today, we are launching schemes worth Rs 811 crore. The gas pipeline scheme, launched earlier in Ranchi, was launched in Jamshedpur today. We have laid foundation for a gas bottling plant in Barhi. It will generate indirect employment in the State,” Das said. Around 40 lakh households in Jharkhand were benefitting under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and Jharkhand is the only State that is also providing free refill of the gas cylinders for the beneficiaries of the scheme, said Das.The number of LPG connections in Jharkhand has skyrocketed from only 16.80 lakh in 2014 to 55.40 lakh in 2019. The Chief Minister has attributed this increase to the “earnest” efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his revolutionary Ujjwala scheme. Earlier this year, the Jharkhand Cabinet approved one free refill of gas cylinders provided to Ujjwala beneficiaries in the State.
People of Jharkhand were getting double benefits under the ‘double engine’ Government of BJP, said Das. “More than 40 lakh families are getting double benefits under the double engine government. Around 35 lakh farmers too are getting double benefits – from the State as well as the Centre,” he added.
The Government rolled out the Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana (MMKAY) on August 10. Under the scheme, any farmer who owns up to five acres of land will get Rs 5,000 for each acre from the State Government.
This benefit is over and above the benefits under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme of the Centre. The latter assures annual cash support of Rs 6,000 to farmers who own less than five acres of land.