Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas launched by Prime Minister of India on 1st May 2016 (in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh) to distribute 50 million LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

  • The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana aims to provide clean fuel to women who are below poverty line who generally use unclean cooking fuels that does more harm than good and replace the same with LPG. The objective includes protecting the health of women and empowering them; curbing health issues that result from using fossil fuels and other fuels for cooking and controlling respiratory issues etc.
  • Benefits under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana have been extended to people of all Hilly States including North-East States by treating them as ‘Priority States’. This step effectively addresses the difficulty faced by poor people residing in the States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura in accessing LPG for cooking purposes.

Performance

  • The target of releasing 8 crore LPG connections under PMUY scheme has been achieved on 7th September, 2019, 7 months in advance of the target date of 31st March, 2020. It had been extended to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries as per Union Budget 2021 announcement.
  • LPG coverage in India has improved to up to 99.8% as on 1st April 2021, as compared to 62% as on May 2016.
  • International Energy Agency said it is a “major achievement” in improving the environment and health of women.
  • WHO said that UjjwalaYojana has provided 37 million women, living below the poverty line, with free LPG connections to support them to switch to clean household energy use.

Concerns

  • The poor in some areas are unable to afford a refill after first use. The annual average refill by a PMUY consumer is 3.28 cylinders compared to seven for others.
  • The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has expressed concerns over Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in terms of low consumption, diversions and considerable delays in supply of cylinders.
  • The government is now focusing more on the awareness than the implementation of the schemes and also promoting 5kg cylinders that are economical for the poor class.

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