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New Delhi: On Women's Day, the Modi government made a big announcement to take women's power one step further. Once again the prices of household LPG cylinders have come down. On the occasion of International Women's Day, on Friday (March 8), Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that LPG cylinder prices are being reduced by Rs. Stating this on social media, the Prime Minister wrote, “This will significantly reduce the financial burden of lakhs of families across the country. Especially our women power will benefit from it. By making cooking gas more affordable, we aim to ensure family welfare and a healthy environment. Apart from empowering women, it will also make life easier for them.”

Incidentally, on Thursday, the Union Cabinet announced that the subsidy period of Rs 300 on LPG cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana has been extended for the next financial year. In October last year, the Modi government increased the subsidy on 14.2 kg LPG cylinders from Rs 200 to Rs 300. The subsidy was supposed to expire on March 31. Besides, the Union Cabinet had approved a subsidy of Rs 200 on household LPG cylinders in August last year.

However, the opposition raised questions about the timing of the government's announcement. NCP (Sharad Pawar) party MP Supriya Sule called the announcement a 'jumla'. He said, “I am not surprised at all. Look at the time. They have been in power for the past 9 years. Why didn't they think of it earlier? Just when the election will be announced, probably in the next 5-6 days. It's another Joomla. During our government the price of LPG cylinder was Rs.430. Now why can't you get a cylinder for that money?” Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said, “BJP is a very smart party. They sell 395 Tk LPG cylinders for 1000 Tk. Then Prime Minister Modi announced a price cut of Rs 100.” Samajwadi Party Mahila Sabha National President Juhi Singh said, “Mahadev is seeing how the BJP government is cheating the people. Cylinder prices are increasing. I think Prime Minister Modi should go village by village to see how big a fraud 'Ujjjala Yojana' is.”