Today, household gas cylinder costs were declared to have been significantly reduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Modi announced the government’s decision, announcing a ₹100 price cut for household gas cylinders. According to him, millions of households’ financial burdens will be greatly reduced by this move. According to PM Modi, the country’s women will particularly gain from the decision. “Today, on Women’s Day, our Government has decided to reduce LPG cylinder prices by Rs. 100. This will significantly ease the financial burden on millions of households across the country, especially benefiting our Nari Shakti,” he wrote on X. According to PM Modi, his government wants to guarantee a healthier environment by lowering the cost of cooking gas. The Center’s decision, he claimed, will empower women.
“By making cooking gas more affordable, we also aim to support the well-being of families and ensure a healthier environment. This is in line with our commitment to empowering women and ensuring ‘Ease of Living’ for them,” he added
Central Government
Concurrently, the Central government declared on Thursday that the Ujjwala Yojana would continue to provide impoverished women with a ₹300 per LPG cylinder subsidy for the upcoming fiscal year, which would begin on April 1. In October of last year, the government increased the subsidy to ₹300 per bottle from ₹200 for 14.2-kg cylinders, with up to 12 refills allowed annually. The cylinder subsidy of ₹300 was offered for the current fiscal year, which concludes on March 31.
Opposition questions the timing NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule called the announcement ‘jumla’. “I am not surprised at all. Look at the timing. They have been in power for the last 9 years. Why didn’t they think of this earlier? Just when the election, I mean it will probably be announced in the next 5 or 6 days, “yeh aur ek jumla hai”…In our government, the cylinder was ₹430. Why don’t they match it?,” she said.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said: “The BJP is a very clever party. They sell (LPG) cylinders of ₹395 at ₹1000 and then PM Modi makes an announcement of reducing it by ₹100.”
Samajwadi Party Mahila Sabha national president Juhie Singh said PM Modi’s Ujwala Yojna is a fraud. ”Mahadev is watching how people are being deceived (by the BJP government). Cylinder prices are increasing. I think PM Modi should visit not only the ‘sponsored part’ of the villages but actually go and see how ‘Ujwala Yojna’ is a fraud. Women are a huge part of the population and a big chunk of our society.
So, unless you won’t make them economically strong, there would be no development in the society,” she said.
TMC leader Sagarika Ghose questioned the timing of the decision.” Just a few days before general election 2024, the Modi government cuts LPG prices. Why could this have not been done earlier when women consumers were labouring under high LPG prices even when global prices were low? Now when elections are around the corner, down come LPG prices. Height of political cynicism! India needs a Pradhan Mantri not an election Mantri,” she said on X.