“LPG coverage has increased from 20% in June 2014 to 43% at present in terms of penetration when comparing active customers with calculated current households in Odisha, said G Swaminathan, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) chief LPG manager.
A total of 10,89,686 new connections have been issued to BPL women in the State after the launch of PMUY, Swaminathan said, adding that 1,73,276 LPG customers in the State have so far surrendered their LPG subsidy.
IOCL's general manager Pritish Bharat said oil marketing companies in Odisha are in the process of appointing new LPG distributors to ensure the availability of at least one distributor in every corner of the State.
As envisioned by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, a minimum of 30 lakh new connections have been proposed to be released before 2019 in Odisha.
In order to achieve the goal, oil marketing companies would release 30 lakh new LPG connections under PMUY and ten lakh under normal release (Above Poverty Line category) by December 2018, Indian Oil Corporation's Chief LPG Manager and State Nodal Officer G Swaminathan said here.
It has been the vision of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan that Odisha reaches a LPG penetration of a minimum 70 per cent with a customer strength of more than 75 lakhs by December, 2018, he said.
Stating that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have already released 2,01,344 new LPG connections under PMUY, Swaminathan said they have processed over 3.47 lakh new connections under the scheme for release.
OMCs have implemented the PMUY programmes in all 314 blocks of Odisha, he said adding, 320 programmes have been organised in these 314 blocks, apart from functions in municipalities and Notified Area Council (NAC) areas.
The LPG penetration has increased to more than 40 per cent from a paltry 26 per cent in the state, while the national average stood at 64 per cent.
Since May 2014, OMCs have been able to release more than 16 lakh LPG connections in the state.
Speaking at the launch of PMUY scheme in Delhi, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Pradhan said, LPG penetation across India has improved drastically with nine crore new LPG connections being distributed in the last four years.
He was quoted in a statement as saying that the government's target of providing gas connections to nine crore BPL (Below Poverty Line) families by 2020 "will be incorporating genuinely poor households left out of socio economic caste survey (SECC) list and now will be empowering a wider section of society."
During the launch event "approximately 400 LPG connections were handed over to women of BPL (below poverty line) families," the statement issued by IndianOil Corporation said.
Launched in May 2016, under the scheme government provides LPG connections to BPL families with a support of Rs 1,600 per connection.
Pradhan, yet again wrote a letter to Food Supplies Minister Surya Narayan Patro today referring to the ‘factually incorrect’ news reports on beneficiaries under PMUY failing to avail LPG cylinder refilling.
“Since the launch in May 2016, the scheme has covered as many as 35, 16, 384 households but only 8,18,786 beneficiaries have taken second refill in 2016-17, which further dropped down to 6,45, 265 (18.3 per cent of total coverage) for 2017-18 (till July 24, 2018),” Patro had stated in the letter referring to a newspaper report.
However, denying the allegations Pradhan said that the letter based on a news report, is factually incorrect, absolutely unsubstantiated, devoid of facts and completely misleading.
“I expect the State Government extends wholehearted support in providing LPG connections to all households and making the State smoke free,” Pradhan wrote in his letter.
Stating that he had offered CM Naveen earlier that he would explain about PMUY to him and his colleagues, Pradhan explained, “PMUY is a flagship programme of Government of India which is intended to provide access to clean cooking LPG to poor households. The Ujjwala Yojana has been immensely useful in transforming the lives of underprivileged especially poor women and children. Access to clean LPG has freed poor households from indoor pollution that causes respiratory and lung diseases. Poor women of Odisha have been relieved from the drudgery of collecting firewood. In addition, a plethora of academic and scientific studies done by Prof. Kirk Smith from University of California, Global Alliance for clean cooking stoves and IHS Markit have recognized the positive outcome of this flagship programme to make villages smoke free.”
He continued, “In Odisha, 41 lakh LPG connections have been provided to poor households till December 12, 2018, of which, 35.22 lakh connections have been given under PMUY. Further, PMUY has played a critical role in significantly enhancing the total number of LPG consumers from 19 lakhs in May 2014 to 72.5 lakhs in 2018 in Odisha. The LPG coverage in Odisha has expanded from 22 % in 2014 to 69 % in 2018.”
“The Government of India is bearing subsidy on LPG refills to protect the consumers from price volatility. The subsidy is transferred directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries through the DBTL (PAHAL) eliminating leakages in subsidy transfer and role of the middleman. Currently, in Odisha, the subsidy per cylinder is Rs.326.22 which fully protects the consumers from any price increase. Further, to ensure easy access to refills and to address the affordability issue, the Oil Marketing Companies have tied up with Common Service Centres,” he wrote in the letter.
Pradhan further mentioned, "Based on the recent analysis for all PMUY consumers in Odisha who have completed one year of installation, nearly 70% households came back for refill and nearly 4.2 lakhs consumers have taken 4 or more refills. This clearly indicates a marked behavioural change amongst the common man in Odisha to make a transition towards clean and sustainable source of energy and society has acknowledged the relevance of the PMUY on account of its health benefits, environment dividends, and time saved and utilized for gainful economic activities leading empowerment of women.”
Responding to Pradhan, Surya Patro said, "People are facing a lot of difficulties to pay for LPG connections. If the Centre can provide the facility for free of cost then it is feasible or else the whole scheme is a failure."
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said 7 crore connections have been realised in last 34 months under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which translates into nearly 69,000 connections per day.
PMUY was launched on May 1, 2016, with a target to give 5 crore connections to women member of poor households by March 2019. The target was later raised to 8 crore connections by 2021 and now envisages giving all households a connection.
The scheme together with a government push to replace polluting firewood in kitchens has led to LPG coverage rising to 93 per cent of the population from 55 per cent in May 2014, he said.
"On the occasion of International Women's Day, we have crossed 7-crore connection mark. The scheme is running ahead of schedule," he said on the occasion. "As many as 42 per cent of the total connections have gone to SC/ST."
The maximum 1.26 crore connections have been released in Uttar Pradesh followed by 78 lakh in West Bengal and 77.51 lakh in Bihar. As many as 63.31 lakh connections have been released in Madhya Pradesh and 55.34 lakh in Rajasthan.
Pradhan said nearly 6,800 new distributorships have been added to strengthen the rural supply chain.
As many as 23 crore refills or about 4 cylinders of 14.2-kg each have been bought by PMUY beneficiaries in a year, he said rejecting criticism of the scheme that households reverted to firewood and other mediums of cooking once the initial free LPG cylinder was exhausted.
Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges.
The beneficiary has to buy her own cooking stove. To reduce the burden, the scheme allows beneficiaries to pay for the stove and the first refill in monthly instalments. However, the cost of all subsequent refills has to be borne by the beneficiary household.
In December 2018, the government extended PMUY to all poor households. The scheme originally targeted giving free LPG connections to mostly rural women members of below the poverty line (BPL) households. The list was later expanded to include all SC/ST households, forest dwellers, most backward classes, inhabitants of islands, nomadic tribes and tea estates among others.
The step will further increase penetration of LPG to 100 per cent households, he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) hailed PMUY as decisive intervention by the government to facilitate the switch to clean household energy use, thereby addressing the problems associated with indoor household pollution.
Incidentally, functions previously organised to mark giving of 5-croreth and 6-croreth connection in August 2018 and January this year saw a Muslim lady being chosen for the purpose. On Friday, the 7-croreth connection was handed over to a Hindu lady and the connection after that to a Muslim lady.
Pradhan said, only 13 crore cooking gas connections were given in the first 50 years since the launch of LPG and almost a similar number of connections have been given out by the present government in last 55 months.
The Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) is in-fact a live test case demonstration of State's 5T policy. Because, the scheme saw extensive use of 'Technology' and great 'Team work' from gram panchayat to State secretariat level. And aided by the 2Ts, the scheme was rolled out in a 'Time' bound manner before the polls to ensure the necessary 'Transformations'.
But the recent admission by the State Government that a massive 2.66 lakh or around 10 per cent of the beneficiaries under its game -changer scheme are ineligible, flashes the yawning gap between the talking and walking the talk. As the State government had earlier said of providing Rs 1,300 crore to bank accounts of the farmers, given that 10 per cent are not qualified to receive the government assistance, the leakage then worked out at around Rs 130 crore. Now, the State Government has issued an official notification calling for verification of KALIA beneficiaries to weed out the ineligible ones. It has also implored upon the fake beneficiaries to return the amount!
In contrast, no such leakage has been observed in the two mega 5T schemes of Modi Government - PM Ujjwala Yojana and PM KISAN. Contrarily, reports attributed a saving to the tune of Rs 1.1 lakh crore post the use of DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) technology in government welfare schemes.
An analysis of PM KISAN and KALIA shows where the fault lies. The KALIA scheme defines the 'Farm Family' as one whose members share a common ration card; whereas PM KISAN defined a 'Farm Family' as one who holds cultivable land as per land records of a State/UT.
Since the State Government recently conceded that there are over 1 lakh households in the State who use multiple ration cards, the catch here is the faulty unit specified for identification of a farm family in KALIA scheme did the damage.
This is not the first instance. The State government had faced huge embarrassment in ration cards distribution under the National Food Security Act in 2016. The situation then was so worse that the State government first ordered FIRs against ineligible card holders, and later had to eat a humble pie following large scale protests across the State.
The big common line drawn between both the schemes is the faulty identification process. Both instances show the identification system in the State is ridden with corruption.
Interestingly, when the State government has been well aware that ration cards are in the hands of many ineligible beneficiaries, what baffled observers is why it has chosen the yardstick of ration card for identification of KALIA beneficiaries.
And it is the tribal and backward districts in Odisha that seem to have given a virtual thumbs-up to the Ujjwala Yojana. The big revelation is not only in LPG penetration, the tribal and backward districts in Odisha were on the forefront in refills too.
According to the data available with Union Petroleum Ministry, Odisha having received over 47.18 lakh connections under PMUY till August last this year, finished sixth overall in the country with regard to LPG connections granted under the scheme. The states like UP, West Bengal, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan are only ahead of Odisha.
The LPG penetration that had been mere 26 per cent prior to the launch of PMUY in 2015, hovers at around 72 per cent in 2018-19 in Odisha. The State's total LPG connections, including PMUY, have touched nearly 85 lakh by August end 2019.
Not only connections, the data with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) here have put the refill rate in the State at around 64 per cent. And PMUY users have taken around 3-4 refills in a year. Odisha has been ranked at number 7 nationally, where Ujjwala consumers have sought 3rd refill.
As Odisha has been ranked along with BIMARU states (Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and UP) in the indicator of poverty, the refill rate of the State is higher than Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand but is behind Bihar, MP, Rajasthan and UP. Significantly, Odisha's 13 of the 30 districts are tribal dominated.
An analysis shows that in LPG penetration the top-10 districts are tribal and Scheduled Castes dominated districts. In 2018-19, while Balangir topped the LPG penetration chart, Bhadrak followed in second rank. Other districts in the descending order are: Khandamal, Nabarangpur, Jajpur, Nuapada, Nayagarh and Kalahandi.
Even, the refill rate in Malkangiri, State's remotest and poorest district, has been over 26 per cent. The latest data showed refill rate rising by around 44 per cent in 2017-18.
The achievement under PMUY in tribal districts seems overwhelming, when a study by CRISIL(Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited) showed that in Odisha the free firewood used as cooking fuel stands at 26 per cent of total fuel used.
In this era of 'entitlement' politics and schemes, it seems the contemporary Odia society have lost the touch of its glorious 'give-up' spirit.
When the State has been in the headlines for wrong reasons like well-off sections in the society grabbing the NFSA (National Food Security Act) card or KALIA benefits, another revelation to the fore is despite figuring as 14th big consumer of LPG gas nationally, Odisha failed to figure in the top-15 states in the PM Modi's 'Give-it Up' your LPG scheme.
As per the latest data available with the OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) here, over 1.57 lakh LPG consumers in the State have given-up their 'entitlement' of subsidy on LPG refills.
It needs mentioning that during the launch of PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), PM Modi had given a clarion call to users across the country, whereby he urged all the consumers who can afford to pay the market price for LPG to voluntarily surrender their LPG subsidy. And accordingly, the Government has launched the ‘#GiveItUp’ campaign.
While over one crore consumers across the country have given up their subsidy on LPG till date, the consumers who adopted the 'Give-it Up' in Odisha were far less than a small state like Assam.
Sample this. The population of Assam is over 3.5 crore in 2018-19. The total domestic LPG sales in the State stood at 4.01 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT). And the number of consumers who joined the 'Give-it Up' campaign stood at a massive 1.88 lakh.
In contrast, Odisha has a population of around 4.6 crore in 2018-19, and the total domestic LPG sales in the year stood at 4.81LMT. But the number of consumers who joined the 'Give-it Up' scheme were around 1.58 lakh. Top OMC sources revealed that many high-profile ministers in the State are still availing the LPG subsidy.
Significantly, the poverty rate in Assam in 2009-10 (latest available data on poverty rate) was 37.9 per cent against 32.8 per cent in Odisha in the same period. This shows Assam is not a prosperous State than Odisha, economically.
The missing 'Rotarian' nature of the contemporary Odia society again pops up when from a whopping 18,017 active doctors registered in the State, a mere 188 have pledged volunteerism support to 'I Pledge for 9' under Modi's Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA). This, when Odisha languished at the bottom in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) nationally.
Why the 'volunteerism' is missing in Odisha? According to political observers, motivation is the mother of 'volunteerism' and the lack of such a drive-factor is responsible for the fading 'volunteerism' from the contemporary Odia society.