CONCEPT - PM UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY)

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 CONCEPT - PM UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY)

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• What it is: The PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to provide free LPG connections to women from BPL households by providing financial support of Rs.1600 for new LPG connections. It was launched by PM Modi on May 1st, 2016 in Ballia, UP with the aim of providing clean cooking fuel to BPL women and reducing the drudgery and hazard of biomass cooking.
• Goal: Providing LPG connections to BPL households ensures universal coverage of cooking gas which empowers women and protects their health (no more smoke in kitchen).
• Details: The identification of eligible BPL families is in consultation with the State govts. and the Union Territories based on the socio-economic and caste census data.
1. It addresses serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels. 
2. Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer and indoor air pollution causing acute respiratory illnesses in young children is addressed. 
3. It also provides employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.
4. Original target was to provide 5 crore deposit-free LPG connections to women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, which was increased to 8 crore later, with an allocation of Rs. 12800 crore.
5. LPG Panchayats are being conducted to promote learning through peer group interaction.
• Universal PMUY: It now covers LPG connections to all poor even if their names are not covered in earlier identified categories like identified through Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) list. Then, beneficiaries are identified from categories like SC/STs households, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY (Gramin), Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers, Most backward Classes (MBC), Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes and people residing in Islands/ river islands. The initial target of 5 crore connections was achieved well before the target i.e.31st March, 2019.
• Coverage: Implementation of PMUY resulted in large increase in national LPG coverage, in general and Eastern States, in particular. Concerns exist about refilling ability of poor households.
1. The scheme resulted in mass coverage of rural poor households and 48% of the beneficiaries are SC/STs. 
2. Nearly 74% beneficiaries under the scheme, who could not afford to make upfront payment for purchase of gas stove and first refill, were provided loan facility by the OMCs. The average per capita consumption is 3.28 cylinders. 
3. To make LPG affordable to poor families, OMCs have introduced 5 Kg refill option to Ujjwala beneficiaries where in Ujjwala beneficiary can swap 14.2 Kg cylinder with 5 Kg refill and vice versa.
• Philosophy: Of the 24 crore households in India, more than 10 crore households were deprived of LPG as cooking fuel, having to rely on firewood, coal, dung–cakes etc. as primary source of cooking. The smoke from burning such fuels causes alarming household pollution and adversely affects the health of women & children causing several respiratory diseases/ disorders. In addition, women and children have to go through the drudgery of collecting firewood. The PMUY tries to minimize this social problem by making LPG accessible.
• Problems and controversies: It was revealed in CAG reports that diversion of subsidies meant for beneficiaries and the mass diversion of LPG cylinders for commercial use and sale in the black market was taking place. The CAG report tabled in Parliament on Dec. 11, 2019 showed that in 3.44 lakh instances Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation issued two to 20 refills in a single day to beneficiaries “having a single cylinder connection”! Similarly, 13.96 lakh beneficiaries consumed three to 41 refills in a month. The CAG report concluded that such high consumption by the poor was improbable and showed diversion of subsidised LPG cylinders for commercial use.

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