Well-known citizens urge FM to make LPG affordable

Nagpur: Several prominent personalities have endorsed a letter by NGO Warrior Moms to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to make liquified petroleum gas (LPG) affordable to poor households in the country when she presents the forthcoming budget.
Highlighting that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY) introduced in 2016 allotted access to subsidised LPG connections to over 8 crore households, the letter stated that insufficiency of the subsidy combined with the difficulty of getting a timely refill hinders millions of households from switching to LPG.
“They are unable to afford cylinders which are now priced at over Rs 1000 on an average and, because of this, underprivileged households continue to depend on unclean fuels like firewood and dung cakes, resulting in serious health implications,” the letter added.
Over 20 noted personalities including MPs Shashi Tharoor, Farooq Abdullah, Varun Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi, senior advocate and former Patna HC judge Anjana Prakash, social activist Aruna Roy and others. They have stressed that it is imperative to provide “all our underprivileged constituents with heavily subsidised cooking cylinders and refills”.
In an official statement, Warrior Moms stated, “It is disturbing to see the obstacles that women in urban-poor and rural households face due to the exorbitantly priced LPG refills across India. Continued use harmful fuels has disastrous consequences on their health and wellbeing. We urge the government to take this into account and raise the subsidy amount well beyond the current extension of Rs 200, along with making the distribution of LPG smoother across the country.”
According to the organization, household air pollution contributes to 30-50% of the ambient air quality in India. Over 40% households in the country still don’t have access to clean cooking fuel, despite close to universal coverage of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).