Context
The Union Cabinet extended the subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2-kg cylinder under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for up to 12 refills per year till the end of 2024-25.
Relevance:
GS-II: Social Justice and Governance (Welfare Schemes, Government Policies & Interventions)
Dimensions of the Article:
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme
- Challenges in Implementing the PMUY Scheme
- Ujjwala 2.0 Scheme
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme
- Launch Date and Slogan: Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016, with the slogan “Clean Fuel, Better Life.”
- Objective: Aimed at safeguarding the health of women and children by providing them with clean cooking fuel, namely LPG, to eliminate the health risks associated with smoky kitchens and the collection of firewood.
- Implementing Agency: Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
- Budget: Initially allocated Rs 8,000 crore.
Key Features:
- Initially targeted to provide 5 crore LPG connections to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families with Rs 1600 support per connection over three years (2016-19).
- Subsequently, the target was increased to 8 crore LPG connections in April 2018.
- Connections are registered in the names of women within households.
Eligibility & Identification:
- Open to all BPL families.
- Any adult woman from a BPL family can apply for a deposit-free LPG gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme.
- Expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven additional categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, river islands).
- Identification of BPL families is based on the Socio Economic Caste Census Data from 2011.
Challenges in Implementing the PMUY Scheme
The implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme (PMUY) faced several challenges:
Data Accuracy:
- Identifying deserving households for free LPG connections was challenging due to a lack of accurate data. The SECC-2011 data, although used for identification, was not entirely reliable, resulting in some deserving households being excluded during fieldwork.
Inaccurate BPL Classification:
- The SECC-2011 data also revealed cases where relatively affluent households were classified as Below Poverty Line (BPL) households. This posed difficulties in validating the authenticity of the SECC database.
Awareness and Documentation:
- Many beneficiaries came from economically disadvantaged and less-educated backgrounds. They had limited awareness of the safety requirements for using an LPG stove. Additionally, some households lacked essential documents such as ration cards and Aadhaar cards, which were necessary for availing benefits under the scheme.
Challenges in Establishing Distributorships:
- In certain regions, particularly areas affected by law and order issues or designated as forested areas, setting up LPG distributorships proved to be challenging. This hindered the scheme’s reach, leaving households in those areas without access to cleaner cooking fuel.
Performance of Ujjwala Scheme (Phase-I):
- The release of 8 Crore LPG connections under the scheme significantly increased LPG coverage, rising from 62% on May 1, 2016, to an impressive 99.8% by April 1, 2021.
- Several states have seen substantial benefits from the scheme, including Uttar Pradesh (benefiting over 1.46 crore BPL families), West Bengal (88 lakhs), Bihar (85 lakhs), Madhya Pradesh (71 lakhs), and Rajasthan (63 lakhs).
Ujjwala 2.0 Scheme:
- In the Union budget for FY 21-22, provisions were made for an additional 1 crore LPG connections under Ujjwala 2.0.
- Special facilities have been introduced for migrant families, simplifying the process by eliminating the need for ration cards or address proof. A self-declaration for both family details and proof of address is sufficient.
- As of March 1, 2023, the total number of connections released under PMUY reached 9.59 crore.
- Active domestic LPG consumers have also shown remarkable growth, increasing from 14.52 crore in April 2014 to 31.4 crore as of March 2023.
