evidence: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, said 10 crore LPG connections including 4 crore, free to poor women, were given in last four years, compared to 13 crore in six decades since independence, as his government stepped up efforts to shield women and children from kitchen smoke. [...] Launched in May 2016, the scheme aims to provide in next three years, as many as, 5 crore free cooking gas connections to women from extremely poor households, aimed at reducing the use of polluting fuels such as wood and dried cow dung that, according to the World Health Organization, cause 1.3 million premature deaths in India every year. [...] Modi said LPG is the cleanest and easily available source of energy that is giving women a healthier lifestyle, saving them time, helping them financially and saving the environment. As many as 45 per cent of the four crore free LPG connections given under Ujwalla are to dalits, he said.