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The number of affected families are alleged to be a whopping 14 lakh, accounting for 54 per cent of India’s pending gas connections, according to BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya
News18
The West Bengal government’s failure to form District Ujjwala Committees (DUCs) has left many poor households waiting for LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, an answer to a parliamentary question has revealed. Despite requests from the Centre, no DUC was formed in any district till January 2024, causing the delay.
The number of affected families are alleged to be a whopping 14 lakh, accounting for 54 per cent of India’s pending gas connections, according to BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya who asked the Centre in Parliament if it is aware that over 14 lakh LPG connections under PMUY are pending in West Bengal and the reason behind it.
Replying to the unstarred question, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Suresh Gopi said: “The Government of India had approved the release of additional 75 lakh PMUY connections with the direction that applications shall be scrutinised by a committee at district level. Accordingly, state governments were requested to form the district level committees known as District Ujjwala Committees (DUCs) vide letter dated 03.10.2023. However, no DUC was formed by the state government of West Bengal in any of the districts till January 2024.
“In order to avoid further delay in districts where the DUC was not constituted till January 2024, the revised composition of DUCs (without District Food and Civil Supplies Officer) was issued by the Government of India to OMCs on 29.01.2024. Due to these reasons, in the case of West Bengal, significant time was lost in formation of DUCs leading to high pendency of PMUY applications.”
While the Centre put the blame for the delay on the Bengal government, it refused to make any mention of Bhattacharya’s 14 lakh claim in its answer.
“Why is the state government denying its people access to clean fuel? This is a question the Bengal government must answer,” said Bhattacharya.
