'10 cr LPG connections given in 4 yrs against 13 cr in 6 decades'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government had distributed 10 crore LPG connections in four years, including four crore free to poor women of which 45 percent beneficiaries have been Dalits and tribals resulting in a "big social transformation".

Underling his government's pro-poor credentials, Modi also took a dig at the previous regimes saying when he was young, the wealthy and influential people would get the LPG and tell the poor that it was unsafe to have a gas connection at home.

Interacting through video-conference with some women beneficiaries who received free cooking gas connection under the Ujjwala Yojana, a flagship welfare scheme aimed at increasing LPG coverage among the poor, the prime minister said ten crore LPG connections have been given in the last four years as compared to 13 crore in six decades since independence.

Modi recalled his childhood saying his mother struggled with smoke emitting from cooking on firewood or cow dung, and asserted that his government would increase coverage of clean fuel to 100 percent households soon.

He said it was the rich and influential who received the domestic gas connection earlier but his government has kept the poor at the centre of the drive.

He said 81 families out of 100 have the LPG connection now.

The LPG reach is now 100 percent in 70 percent villages and more than 75 percent in 81 percent villages, he said.

The clean fuel is leading to healthy India, Modi said, citing benefits of LPG fuel.

During the recent 'Gram Swaraj Yojna', 11 lakh people received LPG connection in one day, he said, adding more and more are joining the list of beneficiaries.

"Ujjwala Yojana has strengthened the lives of the poor, marginalised, Dalits, tribal communities. This initiative is playing a central role in social empowerment," Modi said. Ujjwala scheme was launched in May 2016 to provide in three years as many as five crore free LPG connections to women from extremely poor households. It also aims to reduce the use of polluting fuels such as wood and dried cow dung that, according to the World Health Organization, cause 1.3 million premature deaths in India every year.

The target was raised to 8 crore this year by adding two additional years.

India aims to increase liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) usage to cover 80 percent of its households by March 2019, against 72.8 percent in 2017.

Under the scheme, the government gives a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG connection installed in poor rural households without one.