Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: Goals, Features, Beneficiaries, Eligibility Criteria and more

LPG is more widely used in India’s urban and semi-urban areas. The bulk of rural residents, as well as BPL households, continue to use fossil fuels to cook their meals. Women in these homes are in danger of serious health problems as a result of their families’ consumption of fossil fuels. According to experts, an open fire in the kitchen does as much harm as smoking 400 cigarettes in one hour. Indoor air pollution is also a source of respiratory issues in children. Deforestation and air pollution are also impacts. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was started in May 2016 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to address the following issue.

Goals of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• To encourage women’s empowerment.
• To supply a nutritious source of cooking fuel.
• To avoid health risks associated with the use of fossil fuels.

Features of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• Provision of 5 million LPG connections to BPL families.
• Financial support of Rs.1,600 would be offered for each LPG connection provided to BPL families.
• For the stove and refill prices, an EMI facility will be supplied (An interest-free loan).
• The government will pay the Rs. 1,600 administrative fee for LPG installation.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Give It Up Campaign,’ in which a huge number of middle-class households have voluntarily given up their cooking gas subsidy, complements the programme.

Beneficiaries of Pradhan’s Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is a government-sponsored programme. Women from low-income families who do not have access to LPG in their homes are the principal beneficiaries of the scheme. The following categories were the first to be covered by the scheme by the government:

• List of beneficiaries in the SECC 2011 list
• All SC/ST households who are beneficiaries of the Pradhan -PMAY stands for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin)
• Anna Yojana Antoyoday (AAY)
• Dwellers in the Wood
• The majority of backward classes (MBC)
• Tea Garden Tribes and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes
• Residents of river islands and islands
• The scheme’s benefits have been extended to residents in hilly states, notably the North-Eastern (NE) states, by classifying them as “priority states.”

Eligibility Criteria for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• The applicant must be a woman over the age of eighteen.
• The applicant must live in a rural area and possess a BPL card.
• The applicant must have a savings bank account in one of the nationalised banks to qualify for the subsidy.
• The applicant’s household must not be linked to an LPG supply at the time of application.

Documents Required to Apply for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

To apply for the scheme, you’ll need the following documents:

• Ration card for the BPL.
• Authorized BPL Certificate (signed by the Panchayat Pradhan/Chairman of the Municipality).
• Aadhar Card/Voters ID are acceptable forms of photo identification.
• A passport-sized image was taken recently.

Implementation Process of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• A lady from a BPL family who does not have access to LPG must submit an application to the LPG distributor in the appropriate format for a new connection.
• The applicant must provide details such as their address, bank account number, and Aadhar card number while requesting a connection (In case the applicant does not own an Aadhar card, efforts will be made to coordinate with UIDAI to issue an Aadhar card to the applicant).
• Officials from the LPG fuel firms will compare the information presented with the SECC – 2011 database to certify the family’s BPL status and enter it into a dedicated portal provided by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC).
• OMCs will carry out the de-duplication process and other due diligence measures online.
• Once all of the aforementioned stages have been accomplished, the OMCs will grant the LPG connection.
• The connection fees are the responsibility of the government. The OMCs, on the other hand, will provide the application with an EMI option, which will be deducted from the applicant’s monthly subsidy.
• If the state government, a non-profit organisation, or an individual want to contribute to the cost of the stove and/or the first refill, they may do so under the conditions of the stated system, i.e., under the umbrella of PMUY.
• The extensive Melas of the OMC will also be used to establish new connections in numerous locations.
• The scheme will cover BPL families under all forms of distributorship and for various cylinder sizes, depending on the field conditions.
• As part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for PMUY recipients, the OMC will transfer refills of up to three 14.2 kg cylinders and an advance of the Retail selling price to the PMUY customer’s bank account, which can be withdrawn to obtain refills from the distributor.