BHUBANESWAR: BJD on Thursday targeted the Centre over the hike in the price of LPG gas cylinder and questioned the silence of the state BJP leaders over the issue. Addressing a media conference senior BJD leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and spokesperson Shreemayee Mishra said rise in prices of essential commodities is causing great pain to the people of Odisha.
“The Centre brought in Ujjwala Yojana to provide subsidised cylinders with an intent that women will not have tears in their eyes due to the earlier smoke of firewood. The hike in the LPG cooking gas price has brought tears,” they added. The price of one domestic LPG cylinder (14.2 kg cylinder) on March, 2014 was Rs 410 which is now Rs 1,103 as on March 1, 2023.
The price has been increased almost three times in the last nine years. Due to such steep hike of cooking gas price, lakhs of women in Odisha are unable to refill the gas and are again compelled to return to using firewood, they added.
Criticising the Centre for stopping the 5 kg free rice per person under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) which was being given additionally to the 5 kg free rice under NFSA, they alleged that cooking gas price hike has dealt a double blow to the common man’s kitchen. They demanded that the Centre should take immediate steps to reduce the price of LPG cooking gas.