Amit Shah promises relief from fuel price heat

BJP president Amit Shah said on Tuesday the government was seized of the issue of rising fuel prices and consumers will get some relief in three or four days.

“The government is seriously looking into the issue. On Wednesday Petroleum Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) is meeting with heads of petroleum companies. I am hopeful that something will happen in 3-4 days,” he said.

He was addressing the press here on the rural outreach campaign undertaken by the BJP to ensure the delivery of seven flagship schemes of the Modi government in 16,500 villages.

The schemes are the Ujjwala Yojana or free cooking gas connections to below poverty line households, the Ujaala yojana of free LED bulb distribution, Jan Dhan or financial inclusion scheme, the Saubhagya yojana of rural electrification, Jeevan Jyoti or low premium life insurance schemes, Suraksha Bima Yojana or accidental death coverage, and the mission indradhanush of immunisation for children below two years and pregnant women.

Mr. Shah asserted that the Modi government would seek coverage of all villages by the next Lok Sabha polls.

“The Modi government will work to ensure that all the villages are totally covered under the flagship schemes before it approaches people to seek a fresh mandate in 2019,” Mr. Shah said.

Referring to the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, which was held between April 14 to May 5, he said for the first time the poor in the villages saw the government reaching their doorstep.

“This is the first time since independence that such a campaign woven around delivery of government schemes was undertaken. Instead of the people being applicants awaiting the scheme, we made sure that the service was delivered where people were,” he said.

Mr. Shah said 3,68,978 programmes related to government schemes were held in various villages having a population of 2000 or more and with 40% or more of Dalits. “Around 1.28 crore people were engaged through these programmes and we ensured that each of them got covered by these schemes,” he said.

Now we will ensure power and LPG connections and opening of new bank accounts and full coverage of all other welfare schemes in 45,000 villages of the 115 most-backward districts by August 15, 2018, he said.