Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday, January 2 handed over the sixth crore LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to Jasmina Khatoon from Shivpark in Delhi as per a PIB release. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which was launched on May 1, 2016, set a target to give 5 crore connections by March 2019.
With this Centre Government later raised the target to 8 crores by the year 2021. Reacting on the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet said, “The Ujjwala Yojana continues to transform lives, emerging as an agent of change for the poor. Delighted that the number of beneficiaries has crossed 6 crore”. “Congratulations to the beneficiaries. The Yojana is ensuring women empowerment and better health in our society” he added in the same tweet.
The Ujjwala Yojana continues to transform lives, emerging as an agent of change for the poor. Delighted that the number of beneficiaries has crossed 6 crore.
Congratulations to the beneficiaries. The Yojana is ensuring women empowerment and better health in our society.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 2, 2019
While Vice President Venakaiah Naidu termed the scheme as revolutionary and “possibly the world’s biggest poverty alleviation programme.” He added the scheme, “endeavors to fulfill the dream of the Mahatma Gandhi to help the poor”.
Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was also present on the Occasion along with Vice President said that “In the last fifty years since the launch of LPG fuel, only 13 crore connections were provided while in the last 54 months, an almost similar number of connections have been provided by this government”. He added “He said that coverage of LPG connections has jumped from 55 percent in 2014 to 90 percent now. Pradhan said that almost 80 percent of the beneficiaries under the PMUY have been refilling the cylinders.”
Union Minister JP Nadda also hailed the Scheme and said in a tweet, “#PMUY has helped in reducing indoor air pollution drastically, accounting for nearly 10 lakh deaths in a year. It is a step towards Swastha Bharat Samriddh Bharat. #6crUjjwala”
#PMUY has helped in reducing indoor air pollution drastically, accounting for nearly 10 lakh deaths in a year. It is a step towards Swastha Bharat Samriddh Bharat. #6crUjjwala
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (Modi Ka Parivar) (@JPNadda) January 2, 2019
Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,600 to state-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection that they give to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges.
However, The beneficiary has to buy her own cooking stove. But in a move to reduce the burden, the scheme allows beneficiaries to pay for the stove and the first refill in monthly installments. However, the cost of all subsequent refills has to be borne by the beneficiary household itself.
The government extended PMUY to all poor households last month. Earlier, The scheme originally targeted giving free LPG connections to mostly rural women members of below the poverty line (BPL) households. The list was later expanded to include all SC/ST households, forest dwellers, most backward classes, inhabitants of islands, nomadic tribes and tea estates among others.