Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Context

As part of the economic response to COVID-19, the Government of India has launched a pro-poor scheme “Pradhan Mnatri Garib Kalyan Package” (PMGKP), Under this scheme, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is providing free of cost LPG cylinders to over 8 crore PMUY beneficiaries for 3 months w.e.f 1.4.20. During April, 2020, Oil Marketing Companies(OMCs) have delivered 453.02 lakh cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under PMGKP.

About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

Need

In India, the poor have limited access to cooking gas (LPG). The spread of LPG cylinders has been predominantly in the urban and semi-urban areas with the coverage mostly in middle class and affluent households. But there are serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels.

According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels. Most of these premature deaths were due to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children. According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.

Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country. This measure will empower women and protect their health. It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking. It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

Target beneficiaries

Under the scheme, an adult woman belonging to a poor family not having LPG connection in her household, is an eligible beneficiary under the expanded scheme.

Release of LPG connection under this Scheme shall be in the name of the women belonging to the BPL family.

Initially, the Government covered the following categories under the Scheme :-

1. Beneficiaries listed in the SECC 2011 list
2. All SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) (Gramin)
3. Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY)
4. Forest dwellers
5. Most Backward Classes (MBC)
6. Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes
7. People residing in Islands
8. People residing in river islands.

Benefits to the citizens

Under the scheme, five crore LPG connections are to be provided to BPL households. The Scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households, interest free loan to purchase stove and refill by Oil Marketing Companies. The administrative cost of Rs. 1600 per connection, which includes a cylinder, pressure regulator, booklet, safety hose, etc. would be borne by the Government.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for the PMUY beneficiaries

As part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for the PMUY beneficiaries to enable them to combat COVID 19 crisis, availability of up to 3 refills for 14.2 kg cylinders and advance Retail Selling Price being transferred by OMCs to the PMUY customer’s bank account, which can be withdrawn to obtain the refill from the distributor has been announced.