Bhubaneswar, Aug 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a great gift to women by reducing the price of LPG cooking gas by Rs 200 per cylinder, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.
Addressing a function organised to celebrate Raksha Bandhan at Sukinda in Jajpur district, Pradhan said after assuming power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that his government is dedicated to women.
The Union Minister said such a statement of the Prime Minister was not a lecture but a commitment which has been implemented today.
He said in addition to reducing the price of cooking gas, the Prime Minister has also taken a decision to include 75 lakh more members under the PM Ujjwala scheme.
Pradhan said implementation of the Ujjwala scheme has improved the health condition of the women as they no longer suffer from diseases due to use of wood as fuel to cook food.
The Minister said the number of LPG beneficiaries has increased from 14 crores in 2014 to 33 crores now.
Pradhan said the Union government is providing a huge amount of money to Odisha for the welfare of the women but the money is not reaching the targeted people due to massive corruption.
He said the women have been empowered due to launching of various welfare programmes like Ujjwala, Janadhan, Mundra, Swachh Bharat and Garia Kalyan Anna Yojana.
The Minister said till 2014, Odisha had got Rs 387 crore loan under NRLM Yojana to 14 lakh women SHGs but today 40 lakh Women SHGs are given a loan of Rs 25,000 crore.
