Ujjwala: State’s tribal, backward dists ahead

When the country meets 5 crore target mark ahead of schedule on Friday under Ujjwala, the heartening fact in Odisha is that tribal and backward districts of the State have given a virtual thumbs-up to Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious programme Ujjwala.

Not only in LPG penetration, tribal and backward districts were on the forefront in refills too in Odisha.

Odisha has a high of 13 districts where tribal population hovers between 20 – 56 per cent. Take instance of Malkangiri. Malkangiri, which figured among the poorest, remotest and most backward district in Odisha, has a creditable show under Ujjwala.

The district with over 55 per cent tribal population has recorded nearly 38,000 LPG connections under Ujjwala as of June end. Since the LPG was given on demand based on SECC 2011, the Ujjwala LPG penetration is estimated at over 26 per cent vis-a-vis of 20 per cent in State headquarters, Khurda.

Moreover, the refills in Malakangiri have posted a 44 per cent jump in 2017-18 to touch nearly 8,100 from little over 5,600 in 2016-17.

Malkangiri’s story is not the lone in Odisha. Gajapati with 51 per cent tribal population has also a story to tell. While the LPG penetration under Ujjwala in the district stood at 28 per cent, the district has recorded the highest refilling rate of around 28 per cent in 2017-18 in the State. The district saw LPG connections numbering nearly 40,000 till June end this year, and the refills in 2017-18 saw a 36 per cent jump to touch nearly 11,000.

Another backward and tribal dominated district Koraput too has impressive figures to show. Koraput stood second in the State with a rate of around 25 per cent in refilling of LPG for second and third time. Posting over 45 per cent jump, Koraput recorded refilling by a nearly 27,000 consumers under Ujjwala in 2017-18. Significantly, with a LPG penetration of 33 per cent, Koraput stood at number 2 in Odisha after Balangir (44 per cent).

South Odisha’s another tribal dominated district Rayagada has achieved around 29 per cent LPG penetration rate, and in refilling the district posted a decent figure of 20 per cent.

Similarly, Kandhamal has achieved a LPG penetration rate of 38 per cent with connections touching nearly 66,000 by June end this year. And in refilling rate the district has recorded a decent rate of 23.5 per cent in 2017-18. The year 2017-18 saw nearly 16,000 orders for refill in Kandhamal. Kalahandi, which was in news for wrong reasons in 1980s to 90s, saw a LPG penetration rate of over 30 per cent and the refill rate was estimated at around 20 per cent.

An analysis shows that in LPG penetration the top-10 districts are tribal and Scheduled Castes dominated districts. While Balangir topped the LPG penetration chart, Bhadrak comes second with 42 per cent LPG penetration in 2017-18. Other districts in descending order are: Khandamal, Nabarangpur, Jajpur, Nuapada, Nayagarh and Kalahandi.

The State as a whole in 2017-18 has recorded nearly 10.42lakh refill orders for 3rd time in 2017-18, which gets translated to around 36 per cent of the total connections under Ujjawala. And Odisha figured at number 7 nationally where Ujjwala consumers have sought refill for third time.