Woman pensioner donates Rs 50,000 for LPG to poor women: Modi

Modi praises her in his Mann Ki Baat radio address

Pitching for the government's 'Give It Up' campaign to voluntarily surrender cooking gas subsidy, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited the case of an octogenarian retired woman teacher who has donated Rs 50,000 for the programme to replace the smoke-emitting "chulhas" (stoves) on which poor women have to cook food.

"An 84-year-old retired lady teacher, who has given up her LPG subsidy, wrote to me praising the programme to supply cooking gas to poor women to give them relief from 'chulha' smoke, and has sent a donation of Rs 50,000 for the programme," Modi said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address.

"Try and imagine the generosity of this pensioner lady, who is donating Rs 50,000 to help poor women be free from the scourge of smoke-filled stoves," he said.

"It is not a question of the amount she has donated, but the goodwill and blessings of crores of women that reinforces my optimism in India's future," he added.