At a media conference here, BMJD president Pramilla Mallik accused the Centre of cheating the women of Odisha under the garb of this social welfare scheme.
Similar to the spiraling fuel price, that of LPG too had been rising because of which people were unable to fill up the cylinders, she alleged, terming the scheme as a big failure on the part of the Union government.
The subsidy amount under the scheme was also not being credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries on time, she added.
Between 2014 and 2017, the cost of a cylinder had increased by at least 16 per cent. The Centre had increased the price 22 times since 2014, BJD spokesperson Sulochana Das further alleged, stating that this affected the kitchen budget.
She said that Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had informed Parliament that 30,48,000 households in Odisha had been provided LPG cylinder under the scheme in the last two years.
Notably, 8,18,786 cylinders were refilled in 2016-17. However, it fell to 6,45,265 in 2017-18. The high drop out rate clearly hinted at the failure of the scheme, she said.
In the Union Minister’s home district, Angul, 1,05,508 gas connections have been provided in the last two years. In 2016-17, only 35,406 cylinders were refilled and it came down to 16,950 the next financial year.
Dharmendra had no answer for the 24 lakh cylinders that were not refilled, she added.