Pradhan Mantri UJJWALA Yojana – USPC Prelims

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 2018.

Under the scheme, an adult woman member of a below poverty line family identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) was given a deposit-free LPG connection with the financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.

Target: Initially the target was the installation of 5 crores LPG connections by 2019. But the target was revised to 8 crores which was achieved in August 2019.

With the expansion of the PMUY scheme, all the poor households can avail the benefit from PMUY and it will not be mandatory to be part of the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) list or the seven identified categories under the programme to be eligible for the scheme.

In the Union Budget for 2021-22, the Government has announced the target of an additional one crore LPG connection. These additional connections will be provided under Ujjwala 2.0.

Ujjwala 2.0 aims to provide deposit-free LPG connections to those low-income families who could not be covered under the earlier phase of PMUY.

Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will also provide the first refill and hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

Moreover, the migrants would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.

Because burning wood/coal is leading to rising pulmonary, cataract and heart diseases

According to health experts, the smoke released in the burning process contains hazardous gases like carbon monoxide, particulate matter, etc. Unclean cooking fuels are the main source of indoor air pollution that causes non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer

Generally, poor women are victims of these toxic gases. They have no alternative and thus they are forced to use them