Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

  1. Introduction
  2. Aim
  3. Key features
  4. Target
  5. Eligibility
  6. Objectives
  7. Ujjwala 2.0
  8. Analysis
  9. Way forward

Introduction

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Launched in May 2016.

Aim

To provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households.

Key features

  • A deposit-free LPG connection is given to eligible with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.

Target

  • The scheme gained traction with its ambit being expanded to include 80 million poor families from the earlier target of 50 million families with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 crore.

Eligibility criteria

  • Applicant must a woman above the age of 18 and a citizen of India.
  • Applicant should belong to a BPL (Below Poverty Line) household.
  • No one in the applicant’s household should own an LPG connection.
  • The household income of the family, per month, must not exceed a certain limit as defined by the government of the Union Territories and State Government.
  • Applicant must not be a recipient of other similar schemes provided by the government.

Objectives

  • Empowering women and protecting their health.
  • Reducing the serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuel.
  • Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuel.
  • Preventing young children from significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to indoor air pollution by burning fossil fuel.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Under Ujjwala 2.0

  • Migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections.
  • They workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.

Parliamentary committee’s observations on performance of the PM Ujjwala Yojana.

Key observations:

  • The government in September, 2019 met the target of eight crore LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
  • But, only three States have become kerosene-free.
  • These include- Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.
  • Union Territories that have become kerosene-free are the Union Territories of Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar Island and Puducherry.

Key issues and gaps highlighted by the Committee:

  • The scheme is no longer running.
  • The committee was upset at the closure of the scheme and said there was still a lot of ground to cover.
  • There are poor households in the general category in urban and semi-urban localities that also need to be covered.
  • Large segments of people in various States still depended on kerosene for cooking and household lighting.

What next?

  • The scheme should be extended to poor households in urban and semi-urban slum
  • There is need for achieving a higher LPG coverage of the population by providing connections to households that do not have LPG.

Despite government’s support for the promotion of clean cooking fuel, large people in India still rely on solid fuels.

Why?

  • Most people believe that food cooked on a chulha was healthier and tastier. In contrast, rotis cooked on gas cause indigestion.
  • They also believe cooking with solid fuels was healthy for the person cooking too: fumes purified the eyes because they caused tears, and in blowing into a traditional stove, a woman did kasrat (exercise).

What can policymakers do to achieve exclusive use of clean fuels in rural India?

Three strategies could work:

  • Communicating the harms of solid fuels and the benefits of cleaner fuels;
  •  reducing the cost of LPG cylinder refills in rural areas; and
  •  promoting gender equality within households, particularly in cooking and related tasks.

List of measures

  • A large anti-tobacco style campaign communicating that solid fuels harm respiratory health, may change these beliefs. Similarly, advertisements that food cooked on gas can be as tasty and healthy as food cooked on a chulha would be helpful.
  • Reducing LPG prices in rural areas, where residents are poorer and solid fuels are easier to access, would also help. One way is to build on the targeting experience of the National Food Security Act.
  • Current Ujjwala messaging, which focuses on the benefits of clean fuels for women, reinforces inequality. Advertisements showing that gas is so good that even men can cook with it will challenge both misinformation on LPG and gender inequalities in household tasks.