Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana achieves 6 crore mark

ONI Bureau:  Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday handed over 6 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to Jasmina Khatoon from Shivpark, Khanpur, Delhi.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan was present on the occasion. Many other beneficiaries were also provided with the connection under the scheme.

Vice President acknowledging the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and guidance of Dharmendra Pradhan, appreciated the collective efforts of the officials of Ministry and the Oil Marketing Companies in achieving the target of 6 crore.

Describing it as a momentous occasion, the Vice President said that PMUY endeavors to fulfill the dream of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to benefit the poor persons, the persons in the last row of the society. He said that Indian economy is striving fast to become 3^rd largest economy of the world, and the schemes like PMUY deal with the social aspect of the growth story, by its inclusiveness.

While speaking at the event Dharmendra Pradhan said that in the fifty years since the launch of LPG, only 13 crore connections were provided while in the last 54 months, almost similar number of connections have been provided by this government. Pradhan further said that coverage of LPG connections has jumped from 55% in 204 to 90% now. Almost 80% beneficiaries under the PMUY have been refilling the cylinders. He said that the PMUY has been hailed by the international organizations and developed countries while it has set an example for the developing countries of the world.

In order to provide clean cooking fuel to BPL households in the country, the Government has launched “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana”(PMUY) scheme to provide 5 Crore deposit-free LPG connections to women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, which were subsequently increased to 8 Crore with a budgetary allocation of Rs. 12800 crore.

Worth mentioning, the initial target of 5 crore connections was achieved well before the target i.e.31st March, 2019.