The Central government on Saturday launched a country-wide LPG Panchayat as a backup to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana to distribute LPG connections among the rural areas where conventional fuel is used for domestic purposes, an official said. Briefing reporters here on the launch of the LPG Panchayat, Indian Oil Corporation Executive Director and State-level Coordinator for Oil Industry in Gujarat Sanjeev Jain said, “The average usage of LPG among the three crore beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana is around three cylinders a year, as against seven-and-a-half cylinders of others.” He said through the LPG Panchayat, formally launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from a village in Gandhinagar district, “we want to understand that issues that are preventing increased growth of LPG”. Through officials of the oil PSUs, NGOs, Asha workers and social workers, the Panchayat aims to connect with the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana. IANS