'Electricity, clean cooking for rural homes by 2022'

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that every single rural family will have electricity and a clean cooking facility by 2022.

"By 2022, the 75th year of Independence, I assure that every single rural family except those who are unwilling to take the connection will have electricity and a clean cooking facility," she said while presenting the Budget for 2019-20 in Lok Sabha.

"At the centre of everything, we keep the village, poor and farmer. The prime minister's two mega initiatives Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Saubhagya Yojna (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ) has transformed the life of every rural family dramatically improving their ease of living."

Sitharaman said that the government keeps 'Antodaya' (development of all) at the centre of all its programmes.

"Household access to clean cooking gas has seen an unprecedented expansion through the provision of 7 crore LPG connections. All villages and almost 100 per cent households across the country have been provided with electricity," she said.

Hailing the success of her government's schemes, Sitharaman said that a combination of efficient implementation and enthusiastic adoption has significantly improved access to energy to rural households.