KOCHI: As part of the 'Ujjwala Diwas' celebration announced by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to promote the use of LPG among the rural community, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will organise 458 community meetings across the state on Friday.
"We are planning to bring together 500 rural women in each of these meetings and provide a platform for women to share information on safe use of LPG. The target is to identify and enrol at least 100 new women beneficiaries in each of these meetings," IOC chief general manager P S Mani told reporters here on Tuesday.
The meetings are aimed at creating awareness among women on the benefits of cooking with LPG in place of the conventional firewood. Kerala has achieved 99.89 per cent LPG penetration and leads the country in use of LPG for domestic cooking. Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the government has given 3.8 crore LPG connections to the underprivileged sections of society. The target is to provide 5 crore connections by March 2019. Another 3 crore LPG connections are being given under the Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat scheme.
"We have identified 32,000 beneficiaries under the Ujjwala Yojana and provided household gas connections to 29,000 applicants so far. Nationwide, we have provided LPG connections to 83 per cent of the population and the government is planning to provide LPG connection to 99 per cent of families by 2020," he said.
Mani said there was no backlog in Kerala and new applicants are provided LPG connection across the table. There are 82 lakh domestic LPG connections in Kerala and IOC caters to 44 lakh customers in the state, he said.
Under the Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat scheme, the IOC has identified 15 villages in Kerala for giving LPG connections to rural women. These 15 villages are located in the districts of Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. IOC general Manager (LPG) A Ravi also participated in the press meet.
Broadening horizons
82 Lakh - LPG customers in Kerala
44 Lakh - IOC customers in the state
99.89 pc - LPG coverage in Kerala
22 crore - Nationwide LPG customers
83 pc - National coverage
Districts in Kerala with below 100 pc coverage
Kollam: 99%
Ernakulam: 99%
Thiruvananthapuram: 97%
Pathanamthitta: 95%
Kottayam: 93%
Wayanad: 88%