Prime minister's dream project, Ujjwala Yojana, through which cooking gas connections were made available to people living below the poverty line, has not made any difference to villagers in Gadchiroli. They simply cannot afford a refill , which comes at a hefty Rs 900 a cylinder.

Initially, those who benefitted under the scheme, included tribal villagers from Gattepayali village, located 29-30 kilometres from Gadchiroli district, where the scheme was introduced a year ago. Most of them got the cooking gas connection at Rs 200. There are 80-odd houses in this village, with a population of over 500. However, most villagers were forced to switch back to firewood for cooking, as they could not afford to refill their cylinders with LPG by paying around Rs 900. They had got the connections for Rs 200 initially.