Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which was launched by the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was launched with the aim of providing LPG connections to BPL households. Under the scheme, you are eligible to receive Rs.1600 for each connection, interest free loan to purchase a gas stove and refill of the cylinder. The government will bear the administrative cost of the LPG connection.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to safeguard the health of women & children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel – LPG, so that they don’t have to compromise their health in smoky kitchens or wander in unsafe areas collecting firewood. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on May 1st, 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, 5 Cr LPG connections will be provided to BPL families with a support of Rs.1600 per connection in the next 3 years. Ensuring women’s empowerment, especially in rural India, the connections will be issued in the name of women of the households. Rs. 8000 Cr. has been allocated towards the implementation of the scheme. Identification of the BPL families will be done through Socio Economic Caste Census Data.

Overview

In the first year of its launch, the connections distributed were 22 million against the target of 15 million. As of 23 October 2017, 30 million connections were distributed, 44% of which were given to families belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The number crossed 58 million by December 2018. In 2018 Union Budget of India, its scope was widened to include 80 million poor households. 21,000 awareness camps were conducted by oil marketing companies (OMC). The scheme led to an increase in LPG consumption by 56% in 2019 as compared to 2014.

The highly popular scheme has benefited over 14.6 million BPL families in Uttar Pradesh, 8.8 million in West Bengal, 8.5 million in Bihar, 7.1 million in Madhya Pradesh and 6.3 million in Rajasthan. In the Union Budget of 2021-2022, the government announced that 1 crore more connections will be provided under this scheme. At the 107th Indian Science Congress held in January 2020 in Bengaluru, Narendra Modi declared that technology has helped India "in recognizing the 8 crore [80 million] women who were still using coal or wood for cooking" and also "in understanding how many new distribution centres must be built, via the help of technology". The National Family Health Surveys demonstrate significant improvement in access to cleaner cooking fuels due to PMUY. Post 2015, the annual increase in access to cleaner fuel increased exponentially. This increased exponentially from 0.8% in rural areas to almost seven-times to 5.6% after 2015.

Documents Required for Availing the Benefits of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The list of documents that are needed for applying under the scheme is mentioned below.

• Identity Proof - Driving License, One Photo ID (Aadhaar card or Voter ID Card), BPL Ration Card, etc.
• Address Proof - Copy of Passport, Lease Agreement, Telephone/Electricity/Water Bill, Ration Card, Flat Allotment/Possession Letter
• BPL (Below Poverty Line) Certificate that has been authorized by the Panchayat Pradhan or the Municipality Chairman
• One Recent Passport Size Photograph
• 14 point Self-declaration as per the standard format and duly signed by the applicant House Registration Documents
• Aadhaar Card Copy of all the members of the household
• Bank Passbook Copy

Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

• To empower women and protect their health.
• To minimize health issues arising from the use of unclean fossil fuel and other fuel while cooking.
• To control indoor pollution from the use of fossil fuel which causes respiratory issues.
• To prevent degradation of the purity of the environment that is compromised by widespread usage of unclean cooking fuel.

Eligibility for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Any applicant who fulfils the below-mentioned criteria is eligible to apply for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana:

• The applicant must be a woman aged above 18 years. She must also be a citizen of India.
• She should belong to a family below the poverty line and no one else from the household should own an LPG connection.
• The overall monthly income of the family should not exceed a certain limit that is prescribed by the UT/State Governments.
• The applicant’s name should be in the list of SECC-2011 and should also match with the information provided in the BPL database of the oil marketing companies.
• The applicant should not be registered under any other similar scheme provided by the government.

Features and Benefits of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The salient features of the Scheme are discussed below.

• The scheme will provide access to LPG Cylinders to 5 crore households of the country.
• The government will provide the gas connection with an assistance up to Rs. 1,600.
• The government will bear the administrative cost of this support. 
• The scheme also includes interest free loans from the oil marketing companies. These loans will be available for the refilling as well as purchase of stoves.
• The scheme will include or cover all the eligible families under various distributors as well as various capacities of the cylinder (14.2 Kg, 5Kg, etc.).
• The scheme is applicable pan India i.e. to all the states with north-eastern states being treated as priority states.
• This scheme will also be beneficial in addressing the difficulties faced by the people of hilly states and north eastern states in procuring an LPG connection.
• As per the revised Scheme of February 2018, the broadened eligibility criteria will enable inclusion of more households within the ambit of the scheme.
• The scheme will also generate employment opportunities for over 1,00,000 citizens of the country as well as an estimated increase in business opportunities of Rs. 10,000 crores.
• The revised scheme has also increased or expanded the cover by including the beneficiaries of various other government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea and Ex-Tea Garden tribes, Forest dwellers, people residing in islands and rivers.
• Benefit under Covid-19 Relief Package or the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana are also extended to the PMUY scheme wherein over 8 crore beneficiaries of the scheme will be provided a total of 3 LPG gas cylinders for the period between April 2020 to June 2020. The cost for the 14.2 kg cylinders under the scheme will be borne by the government and provided free of cost to the beneficiaries.