Ujjawala, Saubhagya schemes have changed rural India

Union Finance MInister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship schemes Ujjawala and Saubhagya have transformed the lives of rural families.

Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said: "Mahatma Gandhi said, 'The soul of India lives in its villages'. This year, even as we are marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, I submit that our government keeps Antyodaya at the core of all its efforts.

"At the centre of everything that we do, we keep 'gaon, garib aur kisan' (village, poor and farmers)."

The Prime Minister's two mega initiatives -- Ujjwala Yojana and Saubhagya Yojana -- have transformed the lives of every rural family, dramatically improving ease of their living," she said. 

The MInister said that household access to clean cooking gas had seen an unprecedented expansion, through provision of more than seven crore LPG (liquified petroleum gas) connections. 

"All villages, and almost 100 per cent households across the country have been provided with electricity. A combination of efficient implementation and enthusiastic adoption has significantly improved access to energy for rural households," she said. 

"By 2022, the 75th year of India's independence, I would like to assure the nation that every single rural family, except those who are unwilling to take the connection, will have an electricity and a clean cooking facility," she added.IANS