IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

Ujjawala 2.0

11th August, 2021 Polity
  • Government has launched the second phase of the Ujjwala gas connection scheme for the poor
  • It would provide the biggest relief to lakhs of migrant worker families in the country.
  • Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Scheme:

  • Under this scheme, 5 crore connections are to be provided to the people needing them.
  • BPL families will be offered a support of Rs.1600 per connection. This is for the cylinder, booklet, pressure regulator, safety hose, etc. and will be borne by the government itself.
  • Apart from these, the scheme also provides interest-free loans to buy stove and refill by oil marketing companies.
  • The connections would be given in the name of women of the households.
  • An initial outlay of Rs.8000 crore was sanctioned for the implementation of the scheme.
  • The authorities would identify BPL families based on the Socio Economic Caste Census data.
  • Target of Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana (PMUY) has been enhanced from five crore to eight crore.

Success of Ujjwala Scheme:

  • Usage pattern of PMUY customers who have been in the system for a year or more and have been buying four or more cylinders a year.
  • Users focus on the value that LPG generates for them and not on its cost.
  • customers are able to devote more time towards children, the elderly and sick, along with reduced drudgery and gains in health.
  • It has also witnessed the emergence of a peer learning platform: the Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat.
  • LPG penetration in India has risen from 56% in 2014 to 90%.
  • Women are engaging in economic opportunities leading to income generation rather than engaging in non-remunerative work of collecting fodder.
  • It is also helping in reducing indoor air pollutions.

CAG reports/Concerns:

  • Risk of diversion of domestic LPG cylinders for commercial use, as 1.98 lakh beneficiaries had an average annual consumption of more than 12 cylinders.
  • The oil marketing companies had issued 7.19 crore connections, which is about 90% of the target to be achieved until March 2020.
  • Out of 3.78 crore LPG connections, 1.60 crore (42%) connections were issued only on the basis of beneficiary Aadhaar which remained a deterrent in de-duplication.
  • Laxity in identification of beneficiaries.
  • Lack of input validation check in the IOCL software allowed issue of 0.80 lakh connections to beneficiaries aged below 18.
  • 59 lakh connections were released to beneficiaries who were minor as per the SECC-2011 data, which was in violation of PMUY guidelines and LPG Control Order, 2000.
  • Mismatch in the name of 12.46 lakh beneficiaries between the PMUY database and SECC-2011 data.
  • Connections were given to “unintended” persons.
  • Delay of more than 365 days in the installation of 4.35 lakh connections against the stipulated time period of seven days.