Odisha Society of New England (OSNE) hosted a meet and greet reception for minister  Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, the honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas, Government of India, at the Radisson Hotel, Chelmsford.  Representatives from  IAGB (Indian Association of Greater Boston), GIBV (Global Indians for Bharat Bikas), VHPA, TAGB (Telugu Association of Greater Boston), Milan Cultural Association-USA, Chinmaya Mission Boston, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, Computer Society of India and other organizations attended the event.  The honorable minister was accompanied by Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das, the Indian Consul-General in New York, Dr. Manoj Mohapatra, the Deputy Consul-General, and the minister’s secretary Secretary, Mr. Binay Pradhan, IFS. The minister was invited by MIT to present a special keynote at the MIT Energy conference.

After a brief introduction of the minister by the consul general, the minister presented some accomplishments of the energy sector. The minister was very bullish about the Indian economy stating that despite worries of the impact of demonetization the economy is growing at 7%. “India has 15,000 kms of gas pipeline, mostly in the western part of the country, and has plans to add another 15,000 kms of pipeline spanning the east within the next three years” said Pradhan. He also talked about the measures taken to ease the life of the low income households. “We have undertaken a project to provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders to 50 million under privileged households in rural areas whose only means of cooking is to burn firewood (in “lakdee ka chulhaa”). This prevents health hazards caused by smoke inhalation, provides safety, and frees up time for the women who go for hours into jungles in search of firewood” said Pradhan

Several community leaders including    Mr. Subbu Kota, Dr. Anil & Mrs. Ranjani Saigal, Mrs. Latha Mangipudi, Mr. Avinash Patil, Mr. Praveena  Naduthota, Mr. Sanjay Gowda, Mr. Kanchan Banarjee, Mr. Pawan Roy, Mr. Srinivas Batchu, Mr. Venkat & Maha Pula, Mr. Lalatendu Mohanty, Mr. Satyabarata Mishra, Dr. Sourya Mahaptra, Mrs. Jayashree Kar, Mr. Akshaya Mohanty, Mr. Soumya Mohanty, Mr. Saroj Panigrahi, Mrs. Sangya Padhi, Mr. Malay & Mrs. Bishnupriya Paul, Mr. Prabhudutta Mohanty, Mr. Suresh Sharma, Mr. Budhinath & Mrs. Kalyani Padhi  and many others attended the event.

The honorable minister answered a few questions from the audience.  There were a few lovely music and dance pieces that were very entertaining.

Lokvani had the opportunity to interview the honorable consul general. You can see the interview here. Thanks to Mr. Som Mohanty and OSNE for organizing a wonderful event.

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