Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana

May 2, 2016 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Yesterday Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in Uttar Pradesh. The program is aimed to provide free connections of LPG cylinders to people under below poverty line (BPL). The government will complete the set target in the next three years.

The innovation scheme of the BJP intends to provide free cooking gas to around 5 crore households which costs approximately Rs.8,000 crore to the government and thus put to end to the traditional chulha that is used in the rural household. Considering the usage of chulha is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes, the scheme is aimed to improve the health of rural women. Furthermore, the scheme also improves the employment of rural youth who engage in supplying cooking gas.

The government supports each LPG connection of the BPL households by providing a financial assistance of Rs.1600. But, there is no proper definition for the BPL household and the eligibility will be decided by discussing with the State governments and Union Territories.

The target is set for a period of three years for the fulfillment of LPG connection to the BPL households till 2019. In this year i.e. 2016-17, the specific target is 1.5 crore connections which needs funds of Rs.2,000 crore. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated this amount in the budget.

The scheme is partially funded by the money received from the LPG subsidies that were given up voluntarily saved from the ‘Give it up’ scheme by some users of cooking gas. Many people from middle and high middle class gave up their LPG subsidies due to ‘Give it up’ campaign by the government and the money was saved by the government. Around 8.22 million users gave up their subsidies which saved the government around Rs.4,166 crores. The money thus saved by the government is intended to be used for this prestigious government scheme.

Image credit: Image by Sambeet D from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)