PM UJJWALA SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Government Scheme)

Context: Recently, the government made a significant move by raising the cooking gas subsidy for economically disadvantaged households participating in the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).

• This decision is set to have a positive impact on the 9.6 crore households currently enrolled in the targeted subsidy program.

PM Ujjwala Yojana

• Launched: May 2016.
• Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• Objective: To make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households that were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes, etc.
• Target: LPG connections to 5 crore women members of BPL households.
• Expansion: The scheme was expanded in April 2018.
• Beneficiaries: Women beneficiaries from 7 more categories- SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, and Islands.

LPG Subsidy

• The Government of India provides gas subsidies as a type of financial assistance to beneficiaries. In an effort to help Indian households cope with inflation, this subsidy is provided on LPG cylinders.
• Beneficiaries receive the subsidy amount in their bank accounts.