Pradhan hits back at Odisha minister for citing failure in Ujjwala Yojana

The false political campaign of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government against Ujjwala Yojana shows their fear about the rising popularity of the scheme among the poor families in the state, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.

"The false political campaign of BJD/Government of Odisha against Ujjwala Scheme shows their fear about the rising popularity of Ujjwala Scheme among the poor families in the State. I will request them to cooperate to make Odisha 100% smoke-free state and not to do politics over a sacred scheme. Let's not forget that Odisha had 19 lakh LPG connections till May 2014 which has increased to 72.5 lakhs including 41 lakhs BPL gas connections as on today," he said.

Pradhan's statement came in response to the letter written by Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surjya Narayan Patro citing the failure of Ujjwala scheme in the state

Pradhan also urged the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha to help the central government in making the state smoke-free.

"Earlier, I had offered the honourable Chief Minister that I would explain the Ujjwala scheme to him and his colleagues. I will repeat the same offer if they are genuinely interested to know how Narendra Modi government under Ujjwala and LPG schemes have transformed lives of 41 lakh BPL families in Odisha in the last four years," Pradhan said.

Ujjwala Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Modi on May 1, 2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, 5 crore LPG connections were to be provided to Below Poverty Line families with a support of Rs.1600 per connection in the next three- years from the date of launch.