Today, Hon’ble Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu handed over 6 crore LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana (PMUY) to Smt Jasmina Khatoon from Shivpark, Khanpur, Delhi.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum, Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was present on the occasion. Under this scheme, many other beneficiaries were also provided with the connection.
M. Venkaiah Naidu acknowledged the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. He appreciated the collective efforts of the officials of Ministry and the Oil Marketing Companies in achieving the target of 6 crore.
Hon’ble Vice President described it as a momentous occasion and said that PMUY endeavors to fulfill the dream of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to benefit the poor persons, the persons in the last row of the society.
Indian economy is striving fast to become 3rd largest economy of the world. The schemes like PMUY deal with the social aspect of the growth story, by its inclusiveness. PM Modi has called for ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ and this initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is a giant step in transforming the lives of the people, said M. Venkaiah Naidu.
He further added, “It not only tackles the health and environmental problems due to household smoke but also empowers the women and restores control to them over their destiny. It is a revolution in a peaceful manner.”
Vice President also congratulated all the stakeholders in achieving the target, well before the schedule.
Dharmendra Pradhan said, “In 50 years since the launch of LPG, only 13 crore connections were provided. While in the last 54 months, the almost similar number of connections has been provided by this government. The coverage of LPG connections has jumped from 55% in 204 to 90% now.
Almost 80% beneficiaries under the PMUY have been refilling the cylinders. PMUY has been hailed by the international organizations and developed countries while it has set an example for the developing countries of the world, said Dharmendra Pradhan.
Interestingly, in order to provide clean cooking fuel to BPL households in the country, the Government has launched PMUY scheme to provide 5 Crore deposit-free LPG connections to women belonging to the BPL families, which were subsequently increased to 8 Crore with a budgetary allocation of Rs. 12800 crore.
Universal PMUY now covers release of LPG connections under PMUY to all poor on account of their names not been covered in earlier identified categories like identified through Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) list and in case the names are not appearing in the SECC list, beneficiaries are identified from categories i.e. SC/STs households, beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY (Gramin), Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers, Most backward Classes (MBC), Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes and people residing in Islands/ river islands. The initial target of 5 crore connections was achieved well before the target i.e.31st March, 2019.
Its implementation has resulted in prominent increase in national LPG coverage, in general and Eastern States, in particular. The scheme has resulted in mass coverage of rural poor households and 48% of the beneficiaries are SC/STs.
While 74% beneficiaries under the scheme, who could not afford to make upfront payment for purchase of gas stove and first refill, were provided loan facility by the OMCs.
Under the PMUY, the average per capita consumption is 3.28. This is a positive change in the lives of these households which were long dependent on the traditional cooking fuels and methods.
LPG Panchayats are observed to promote learning through peer group interaction - Kuch Seekhein, Kuch Sikhayein, where apart from experience sharing. It aims at safe and sustained usage of LPG. OMCs as on date have conducted 59,960 of LPG Panchayats and safety clinics for education and awareness programs among PMUY beneficiaries.
On 01.12.2018, there are 22639 LPG distributorships at industry level. To strengthen the LPG distribution infrastructure, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have plans to add 835 distributors by March, 2019 across the country.
To make LPG affordable to poor families, OMCs have introduced 5 Kg refill option to Ujjwala beneficiaries wherein Ujjwala beneficiary can swap 14.2 Kg cylinder with 5 Kg refill and vice versa. 1,33,869 of beneficiaries have taken advantage of this scheme as on 31.12.2018.
The OMCs have also given loan recovery deferment upto 6 refills or one year w.e.f.01.04.18 for the PMUY beneficiaries who have availed loan facility for hotplate or first refill or both.
Adding to it, PMUY implementation has been appreciated by the WHO and termed it as a decisive intervention to check the indoor health pollution being faced by the women of the country.
