LPG Connection to Poor Households: Most Important Topic for 2023 NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc.

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  • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

Need

  • In India, the poor have limited access to cooking gas (LPG) . The spread of LPG cylinders has been predominantly in the urban & semi-urban areas with the coverage mostly in middle class & affluent households. But there are serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels.
  • According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels? Most of these premature deaths were due to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease & lung cancer.
  • Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children. Having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.
  • Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country. This measure will empower women & protect their health. It will reduce drudgery & the time spent on cooking. It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.
Illustration: Need

Target Beneficiaries

  • Under the scheme, five crore LPG connections are to be provided to BPL households. The identification of eligible BPL families will be made in consultation with the State Governments & the Union Territories.
  • BPL is a person/household who suffers from at least one deprivation under the Socio-Economic Caste census (SECC) - 2011 Database.
  • While the selection of beneficiaries would be from the BPL families only, preference would be given to SC/ST & weaker sections of society. While providing the new connections to BPL households, priority would be given to the States which have lower LPG coverage (compared to the national average) as on 1st Jan, 2016.
  • Release of LPG connection under this Scheme shall be in the name of the women belonging to the BPL family.
  • The Government has also decided to cover the following categories under the Scheme:-
    • All SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Gramin)
    • Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY)
    • Forest dwellers
    • Most Backward Classes (MBC)
    • Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes
    • People residing in Island
    • People residing in river islands.
  • Cabinet approves expansion of beneficiaries list under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
    • he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) during December 2018 has cleared the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to release deposit free LPG connections to poor families, who have not been considered earlier for release of LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on account of their names not been covered either in Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) list or the seven identified categories.
  • Now, poor families who could not get LPG connection under PMUY are now eligible to get a connection subject to fulfilling the eligibility norms & furnishing required documents.

Duration of the Scheme

  • The Scheme would be implemented over three years, namely, the FY 2016 - 17,2017 - 18 and 2018 - 19 across the country.

Benefits to the Citizens

  • Under the scheme, five crore LPG connections are to be provided to BPL households. The Scheme provides a financial support of ₹ 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households, interest free loan to purchase stove & refill by Oil Marketing Companies.
  • The administrative cost of ₹ 1600 per connection, which includes a cylinder, pressure regulator, booklet, safety hose, etc. would be borne by the Government.