In the financial year 2021-22, 90-lakh beneficiaries of the flagship welfare scheme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), did not take refill gas cylinders. And over one crore beneficiaries got their refills only once.

About the PM Ujjwala Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
• he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
• In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.

Why was this scheme launched?

• Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
• Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.
• This measure has empowered women and protected their health. It reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
• It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

Ujjwala 2.0

• Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
• Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

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