Moreover, the subsidy has stopped and therefore they have returned to what they had abandoned. The women suffer from cold, cough, chest pain and shortness of breath. They said the central government should have acted more responsibly especially since the pandemic has brought more financial hardships.
Woman cooking on a coal-fed oven (SNS)
With the spike in LPG prices, Goghat locals have reverted to cooking using wood and coal fire, ostensibly dismantling the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana which was launched with the objective to provide clean cooking fuel, prevent health hazards and reduce pollution triggered by the smoke.
Hundreds of families in the rural areas of Goghat have once again shifted to cooking over the inferior quality of coal, wood, hay and dried cow dung, shooting up plumes of smoke. After the sunset, a thick sheet hangs above the villages. Experts warned that open fire in the kitchen causes as much damage as smoking 400 cigarettes in a house, inflicting respiratory distress in children and the aged.
The housewives in rural areas are more prone to various kinds of health hazards due to the use of fossil fuels, wood and hay. Mitali Batyabal, Soma Pan, Juma Santra and others from Govindopur, Bengai in Goghat said that under PMUY hundreds of BPL cardholders’ families got the LPG cylinder connection and initially received subsidy which made it affordable which was in the range of Rs 500- Rs 600 but the sudden hike to Rs 950 made it exorbitant.
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Moreover, the subsidy has stopped and therefore they have returned to what they had abandoned. The women suffer from cold, cough, chest pain and shortness of breath. They said the central government should have acted more responsibly especially since the pandemic has brought more financial hardships.
Former Goghat MLA Manash Mazumdar said, the Ujjwala Yojana has completely deviated from its main aim and now an empty cylinder resembles a showpiece in most of the villages due to the wrong policies and irresponsible attitude of the central government. The poor villagers are forced to inhale the poisonous smoke.
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