‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ Introduced by MoP & NG, Government of India
by Shrutee K/DNS
MoP&NG, Govt. of India introduced ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ (PMUY) for which
budgetary provision of Rs.12,800 crore has been provided for releasing 5 Crores
LPG connections to women member of BPL households by March’19 and additional 3
Crore LPG connections by March 2020. The scheme was formally launched by Hon’ble PM Sh. Narendra Modi at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh on 01.05.2016.
Industry has crossed 5 Crore mark during
August ’18 which was 8 months ahead of schedule. PMUY is a
revolution which has removed smoke from the kitchens of the poor households in
the country by providing them accessibility to clean cooking fuel LPG and
making it one of the largest social inclusion initiative ever.
Last year the PMUY coverage was
enhanced and new 7 categories SC/STs households, beneficiaries of Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Gramin), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest
dwellers, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, people residing
in Islands / river islands.
Recently, in order to give a universal reach of clean cooking fuel
LPG in the country the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by
Hon'ble Prime Minister, has given a latest decision to release deposit free LPG
connections to poor families, who were not in SECC list or not under 7
categories of EPMUY.
Since inception till 25.12.2018 under
PMUY / EPMUY, IOCL, HPCL, BPCL have together released 6.0 crores LPG
connections on all India basis. Further, national LPG coverage which was less
than 62% as on 01.04.2016 has improved to 89.5% as on 01.12.2018.
In the State of Maharashtra BPCL has released.
12.40 Lac, HPC has released 14.0 Lac and IOCL has released 8.22 Lac LPG
Connections that is total 34.62 Lac number of beneficiaries have been provided
with LPG connection under the scheme till 25.12.2018 with total state coverage stands
at 97% as of 30.11.2018 against earlier coverage of 81% as on 01.04.2016.
78.5 %
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.
It is
significant to mention that 88% of PMUY beneficiaries in the district have
comeback for refill of LPG cylinder after the connection released and the
average per capita consumption is 2.88 Cyls. per Year.
To make LPG
affordable to poor families, OMCs have introduced 5KG refill option to Ujjwala
beneficiaries where in Ujjwala beneficiary can swap her 14.2 Kg cyl with 5 Kg
refill and vice versa
In order to
protect the consumers from volatility in the prices of LPG in the international
market, the difference between and RSP and subsidised price is transferred to
directly customer’s bank account thus the net price to customer is not
affected. Current RSP of 14.2 Kg cylinder 660.00 and subsidy amount Rs. 167.34,
the net price to customer is Rs. 492.66.
The other
benefits (Socio-Economic Impact) of the scheme can be seen as:
A large number
of rural poor households using conventional cooking fuels such as
firewood/agriculture waste/ biomass/kerosene are switching to clean cooking
fuel LPG. By use of clean cooking fuel LPG the indoor household pollution from
the kitchens is removed.
Significant
direct health benefits for women and their families as a result of reducing
exposure to household air pollution from burning of solid fuels and kerosene.
Reduction in
emissions of pollutants such as methane, black carbon and organic carbon
released by inefficient solid fuel stoves, with the first two species
contributing to global warming
Less pressure
on forests, where wood fuel including charcoal use is harvested non-renewably
and contributing to loss of forests;
Reduction in
women and child labour time in fuel collection and cooking, opening up opportunities
for alternative engagement in education, other productive labour and social
activities; The opportunity to increase societal benefit
from global LPG use, given that LPG is abundant.
FOLLOWING OFFICIALS WERE PRESENT DURING PRESS BRIEF :
Shri Santosh
Nivendkar:State Level
Coordinator (Oil Industry) Maharashtra
Shri M.P.
Rethees Kumar-Zonal Head - HPCL
Shri R.D.S.
Dhillon: State Head (LPG), Maharashtra - BPCL
Shri Ashistaru
Roy: Dy. General Manager (LPG), MSO - IOCL
Comments
Post a Comment