Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2016 from Maldepur Morh, Ballia in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a safety program started by the Indian government to protect poor women and children, who have to go face the harmful effects of unclean fuel. It is an initiative for women of below poverty line (BPL) families, so they don’t have to compromise on their health by working in smoky kitchens and don’t have to wander in insecure areas for collecting firewood.
Objective of PMUY:
The objective of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is to provide 50,000,000 LPG connections to poor women belonging to below poverty line families. As of April 3rd 2017, the government had provided 20 million LPG connections to BPL families.
The scheme aims to bring changes in the lives of women of the below poverty line families.
About the PMUY:
- Tagline for the scheme: “Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan”
- Purpose of the scheme is to empower poor women and protect their health by changing the method of traditional cooking using unclean cooking fuels/ fossil fuels to clean cooking gas.
- Under the scheme, woman member of below poverty line families are provided with the deposit-free LPG connection, along with the financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Indian central government.
- Under the scheme, identification of beneficiaries is done via Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) in consultation with Union territories and state governments.
- The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme has been implemented by the Indian Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, with an aim to empower Indian women of below poverty line families.
- Under the scheme, Rs. 8,000 crore have been reserved by the government for providing 5 crore LPG connections to Indian families living below poverty line, within 3 years ending 2019.
