UJJWALA SCHEME

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Context - 90 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) did not refill gas cylinders.

Details

According to a report, 90-lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) did not take refill gas cylinders in the financial year 2021-22.
- Over one crore beneficiaries got their refills only once.
This information was disclosed in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application.
A few months back, the Union government stated in the Lok Sabha that the LPG consumption under the Ujjwala Yojana remains at 3.66 refills per connection annually.

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About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas introduced the ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ or Ujjwala yojana in 2016.
The objective of the programme was to make clean cooking fuels such as LPG available to rural and deprived households.
Applicants can apply both online and offline.
The target was to provide 8 Crore LPG Connections to the deprived households by March 2020.
New connections with government support of Rs 1,600 per connection can be released only in the name of adult female members of the Poor household.
All PMUY beneficiaries will be provided with the first LPG refill and Stove (hotplate) both free of cost along with their deposit free connection by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
The connection released under PMUY will be eligible to receive subsidies for domestic LPG Cylinders (maximum 12 cylinders in a year) of 14.2 kg cylinders each.

Eligibility under PMUY

An adult woman belonging to a poor household and not having an LPG connection in her household will be eligible.
The beneficiaries should belong to any of the following categories:
- Eligible as per Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011.
- Belongs to SC/ST households.
- The beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
- Forest dwellers, Most Backward Classes,
- Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, People residing in river Islands (Beneficiary will submit supporting documents).
If she is not falling in the above 2 categories, then she can get benefits under the Poor household categories by submitting a 14-point declaration.

Ujjwala 2.0

The Prime Minister launched the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana or Ujjwala cooking gas scheme in August 2021.
Ujjwala 2.0 now aims to cover 10 million more beneficiaries in the second phase of the scheme. Union Budget 2021-22, has decided to extend Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana to provide additional 1 Crore LPG connections, with a special focus on migrant families.
Under Ujjwala 2.0, migrant workers can get a free cooking gas connection on the basis of a self-declaration without any need for documents like address proof.
It aims to provide a deposit-free LPG connection to low-income families who could not be covered under the first phase of PMUY.
The beneficiaries will also get a stove (free of cost).
Under the scheme, the first gas cylinder is free, but consumers need to pay for the next cylinders.
Cash assistance of Rs 1,600 for a PMUY connection is provided by the government.

Achievements of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Programme helped in increasing the LPG coverage from 62% on 1st May 2016 to 99.8% on 1st April 2021.
Approx 1 lakh people got employment opportunities through the LPG distribution network.
As part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, more than 14 crores of free LPG cylinder refills were provided to the PMUY beneficiaries during COVID-19.

Significance of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

In the past, LPG connection was considered an urban product, but PMUY ensured that LPG is easily available to the poor people living in the villages as well.
The Usage of traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes etc, had negative impacts on the health of rural women as well as on the environment.
This programme is promoting Women's empowerment
- Connections are provided in the name of the adult female of the family.
- Women are now getting extra time that they used to spend on collecting firewood and making cow dung, they could utilize this extra time in learning new skills and creating more economic opportunities for them.
- Negative health impacts due to the burning of firewood and cow dung are now eliminated.
- Positive health impacts women and other family members, this also promotes mental and physiological well being.
- Female students used to help their mothers in the task of collecting firewood and making cow dung. While fulfilling these family responsibilities they miss the learning opportunities, but now they could utilize the full potential of their learning opportunities.

Challenges

There are still many families who are yet to get LPG connection. There are serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels.
Increasing the cost of LPG Cylinders is a challenge for the success of the scheme, as it disincentivizes the user for refilling cylinders and shifting back to fuel wood and cow dung.
According to the report of the World Health Organization, every year about 5 lakh deaths in India alone are due to unclean cooking fuels.
- Most of these premature deaths were due to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, respiratory disease and lung cancer.
- Indoor air pollution is also responsible for respiratory illnesses in young children.
According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.

Way forward

There is a need to make coordinated efforts by involving all stakeholders to take Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana door-to-door.
We need to ensure a sustainable supply chain of LPG Cylinders and at the same time keeping in mind the safety standards.
To make the scheme more effective, special attention should be given to include self-help groups, to establish the network of micro distributors, utilizing existing networks to attract consumers for refill.