CCEA approves enhancement of target under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on February 7, 2018 approved enhancement of the target of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 5 crore to 8 crore with an additional allocation of Rs 4800 crore.

The decision came after witnessing huge response to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from women particularly in rural areas and to cover households not having LPG connection. The revised target of PMUY will be achieved by 2020.

While increasing the target, the Government also addressed the difficulties faced in the implementation of the scheme such as the left behind genuinely poor households which were not addressed in the Socio Economic Caste Survey (SECC) list.

Considering this, the Cabinet also approved expansion of the Scheme to cover all SC/ST households, beneficiaries of PMAY (Gramin) and Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, people residing in Islands and rivers, SECC identified households, etc.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the original target was to release 3 crore connections by the end of the year 2017-18, but as a result of efficient scheme implementation and monitoring, more than 3.35 crore connections have been released till date across all States/UTs.

In all, more than 4.65 crore applications have been received till now.

About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 May 2016 launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh to benefit the poor, especially the women.

• The scheme, initially, aimed to provide cooking gas connections to 5 crore below-poverty-line beneficiaries over the next three years with an allocation of Rs. 8000 crore over a period of 3 years starting from FY 2016-17.

• As per the scheme, the connections are given in the name of women beneficiaries.

• Identification of BPL families is made in consultation with State Governments and Union territories.

• The scheme was announced in the 2016-17 Budget Speech by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with a budgetary provision of Rs 2000 crore.