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By:

Prithvi Asthana

20 August 2025 at 5:20:30 pm

Desi method saves LPG at RSS camp

Use of biomass wood stove helped in reducing high cooking cost Mumbai: When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) decided to hold a 21-day training camp in Jalgaon in the first week of May one of the biggest concerns for the organisers was availability of fuel. The organisation needed two LPG cylinders of 19 kg each for making three meals for 255 participants and 50 managers daily. It would have cost them Rs 6,000 daily and the cost for 21 days on meals on would have touched Rs 1,26,000. It...

Desi method saves LPG at RSS camp

Use of biomass wood stove helped in reducing high cooking cost Mumbai: When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) decided to hold a 21-day training camp in Jalgaon in the first week of May one of the biggest concerns for the organisers was availability of fuel. The organisation needed two LPG cylinders of 19 kg each for making three meals for 255 participants and 50 managers daily. It would have cost them Rs 6,000 daily and the cost for 21 days on meals on would have touched Rs 1,26,000. It was a time when availability of LPG cylinders was a concern and a costly affair. India’s LPG supply was hit because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The government had hiked the price of commercial LPG cylinder by Rs 993. Then came a desi solution. The RSS decided to use a biomass wood stove that uses renewable energy rather than LPG. The main fuel for this stove was ‘wooden blocks’ prepared from cotton, cow dung or turmeric trees (turkhati). The market rate of the ‘wooden bricks’ is Rs 3 per kg or Rs 150-200 per sack. An RSS swayamsevak from Dhule Rahul Kulkarni has designed this biomass wood stove. He operates an industrial machinery manufacturing company called as ‘Essential Equipments’. The company manufactures renewable energy products like solar thermal systems, bio-gas plant, biomass wood stove, etc. The biomass wood stove proved to be a high success. Its use reduced the daily cooking cost to mere Rs 300 saving around Rs 1,19,700 during the camp period. Not only it helped in reducing cost but also to protect the environment being a source of renewable energy. “We had put a lot of research and development behind this stove, and it was already available. Amid the crisis the stove came in handy to us, and I am happy that we were able to solve this problem. It helped in reducing the cost drastically,” Kulkarni told ‘The Perfect Voice’. Dattatreya Hosable, General Secretary of RSS, who visited the camp for three days, also acknowledged the innovation in cost cutting and saving environment. “I appreciate the efforts taken by the swayamsevaks amid the LPG crisis. Henceforth, RSS will use this method in training camp across the country and I myself will take this solution to all the places,” he said.

Omar welcomes Indus Water Treaty suspension, calls it “most unfair document” for J&K



SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday welcomed the Central government’s decision to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan following the deadly Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 lives. He also referred to the treaty as the “most unfair document” for the people of J&K.


“The Government of India has taken some steps. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, let’s be honest. We have never been in favour of the Indus Waters Treaty. We have always believed it to be the most unfair document to people of J&K,” Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar after meeting representatives from the tourism, trade, and industry sectors. However, he noted that the long-term impact of this move is still uncertain.


The IWT suspension is part of India’s response to the brutal attack. Other actions include expelling Pakistani military attaches and shutting down the Attari land-transit point immediately.


When questioned about the impact of the April 22 attack on the region’s tourism industry, Abdullah dismissed concerns about monetary losses. “At this juncture, we are not counting rupees or paisa. Not one of the businessmen or stakeholders in the tourism industry who attended the meeting lamented the loss of business. Not one of them expressed any concern about what would happen to them.”


“Right now, our priority is to express solidarity with the bereaved,” he said, adding, “At some point in future, we may sit down to discuss the financial implications (of the attack) on J&K’s economy. But not a single stakeholder present in the meeting raised a demand for monetary relief for the losses they are suffering.”


Omar described the tourist exodus from J&K after the massacre as “heartbreaking”. The future of the Valley’s tourism sector remains uncertain, with widespread trip cancellations following the attack.

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