Panaji, Mar 28 (IANS): Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai said on Monday that due to the steep rise in the price of cooking gas and the BJP government's failure to provide free LPG cylinders, people in the rural areas of the state are forced to rely on fire wood for cooking.

Sardesai slammed the BJP government during zero hour of the ongoing Assembly session.

"People are burdened due to the steep hike in the price of cooking gas. Many people in rural areas are forced to rely on fire wood to meet their cooking requirements," Sardesai said.

He added that on February 8, 2022, a few days before the Assembly elections, the BJP had released its 'Sankalp Patra' (manifesto) in which the first promise was to provide three free LPG cylinders a year to every household in Goa to ensure that the burden on every homemaker is reduced.

"Mothers and sisters of Goa voted for you (BJP) so that you could form the government. During budget, the Chief Minister (Pramod Sawant) had said that under the 'Goa Gramin Urja Yojana', the state government has decided to give three cylinders for free per year for which a provision of Rs 40 crore has been made. But now this scheme has been dropped," Sardesai said.

"Today the situation is such that people are storing bunches of fire wood at their homes," he added.

Sardesai also said that the promise of providing free cylinders has gone up in smoke.

"The fanfare with which this scheme was announced remains only on party leaflets now. The Chief Minister has cheated our mothers and sisters with his false promise," Sardesai said.