Performance of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has reached its milestones within 4 years of its implementation and has covered 715 districts. The statistics reveal that a total of 5, 41, 22,556 connections number have been provided by the government under the PMUY scheme. In the forthcoming term, the Prime Minister aims for 10 crore gas connections with a provision of 45% of the connections to Dalit and tribal families.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY):

The Ujjwala Yojana was launched by the Prime Minister of India to provide the poor families access to LPG gas connections. The spread of gas connections has primarily been in the rural and urban areas with its usage mostly seen in middle-class and affluent families. Under this scheme, the government will subsidize and enrol BPL families under the scheme. The beneficiaries will receive financial support of Rs. 1600 per day and the scheme will be implemented in the next three years.

This will ensure the empowerment of woman belonging to the economically backward classes of the society. The government has disbursed funds of Rs. 8000 crore for the implementation of the scheme. The identification of the beneficiaries will be carried out by officials as per the SECC data.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Scheme Eligibility Criteria:

To receive the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme, the applicants must have some minimum eligibility criteria which are as follows:

• The applicant must be a woman and an Indian citizen
• The applicant must be above 18 years of age
• The applicant must not have LPG gas connection
• There is a prescribed income limit for the beneficiaries of this scheme. The total income of the household must not exceed the prescribed limit specified by the government.
• The applicant must be enrolled under the SECC-2011 database and should match with the information of the BPL database.
• Jandhan applicant can easily enrol for this scheme.

See Also: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: How To Choose The Right Home Loan?

Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana:

The main objectives of the scheme are to provide LPG connection to the poor households at subsidized rates. The scheme has been launched to reduce the usage of unclean fossil fuels for cooking and consequently curb health hazards and environmental deterioration. The scheme gives financial support of Rs. 1600 which covers the administrative cost and includes cost of cylinder, pressure regulator, and booklet and safety hose.

• Providing LPG connection to poor households and protect a woman from the health hazard posed by unclean fossil fuels
• Curbing the health hazard associated with cooking based on fossil fuel and reducing the number of casualties.
• The scheme aims at preventing the number of deaths related to unclean cooking habits
• Preventing families and young children from suffering due to indoor air pollution. The smoke from burning fossil fuels causes acute respiratory illnesses in children and adults.
• Controlling air pollution and prevent environmental degradation caused due to the usage of unclean fossil fuels

See ALso: How To Get A Home Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?

Implementation of PM Ujjwala Yojana

The scheme is launched by the Government of India and will be implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. This is of the pioneer scheme that will be implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas at such an enormous scale that will benefit millions of woman and the BPL households. The implementation process will be as follows:

• A woman belonging to the BPL household can apply for this scheme and avail a new LPG connection from the LPG distributor.
• The beneficiary first need to procure the application form from the LPG outlets or visit the online portal of PM Ujjwala Yojana and download the form.
• The applicant must provide complete and authentic information while filling the form.
• While applying for the new LPG connection the beneficiaries must submit details like address proof, Jan Dhan/ bank account details and Aadhaar card details.
• The officials will match the data submitted against the SECC-database and after confirming the BPL status of the beneficiary he will precede for the enrolment process.
•  The applicant must mention the type of cylinder they need as per their needs
• The connection charges will be borne by the government. The applicant can also opt for EMI payment if they want to cover the charges of the cooking stove and the first refill. The connections will be provided at subsidised rates and for subsequent refills, the BPL beneficiaries can avail additional subsidy. However, this would be under the overall umbrella of PMUY and no other Scheme name would be allowed without the approval of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Expansion of the Beneficiaries Under the Scheme:

The PM Ujjwala Yojana scheme is meant to benefit the poor households by extending a means to avail LPG gas connection at subsidized rates. The main aim of the scheme is to provide clean fuel to the woman living below the poverty line who generally uses unclean cooking fuel that harms their health and leads to severe diseases. The scheme was originally meant to benefit almost 5 crores poor BPL families.

Previously the connections were provided based on the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). Later the scheme was expanded to all SC/ST households, backward classes, forest and island dwellers, tribes and people living in tea estates along with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Antyodaya Yojana.

See Also: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

The Success of the PMUY Scheme:

Causes of success: it is rare to find a scheme that has been implemented so successfully and has been completed within its given timeframe. The implementation of the scheme has been overlooked and supervised by the minister of petroleum and natural gas, the secretaries in the ministries and the chairpersons and managing directors of oil marketing companies personally. They have personally taken efforts to understand the issues faced by the beneficiaries and understand the ground reality. The scheme found success due to the robust foundation and the direct benefits transfers.

Expanded LPG connection: the scheme increased the household coverage from 51% to about 81% in 3 years. The beneficiaries do not have to wait in queues to get the cylinders. Ample availability and subsidy on cylinders also contributed towards much of its success.

Limitations of the PMUY:

Though the implementation of the scheme has been quite successful the scheme has failed to achieve its main target. The most important objective of this scheme was to reduce the use of unclean fossil fuel. It is believed that a large portion of the population is still using agro-based and unclean fossil fuel for cooking. This can be attributed to the unaffordability as well as non-availability of gas. The cylinders are very expensive and a reformation of the prices is necessary.

Also, the subsidy against the refill is credited to the bank accounts without delay. But many beneficiaries do not have the income to make the additional payment needed for the refill. Other minor issues like not updating of mobile numbers etc. have deprived the beneficiaries of the refill amount. Other problems are related to areas with low delivery volumes and issues of feasibility and cost have affected delivery in hilly and sparsely populated areas.

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