Three lakh people give up gas subsidy in dist

Pune: Over three lakh people in Pune district have given up their gas subsidy for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), which has helped in providing gas connections to lakhs of people. As per information shared by the district information officer, over 1.27 lakh people were provided LPG gas connections under the PMUY scheme.

Under the scheme, the government provides a subsidy to State-owned fuel retailers for every free LPG gas connection given to poor households. This subsidy is intended to cover the security fee for the cylinder and the fitting charges. The scheme, which seeks to replace unclean cooking fuels with clean and efficient LPG, was originally meant for mostly rural women of below the poverty line (BPL) and is now been extended to different other communities.
 
Similarly, people who cannot afford 14 kg cylinders can also buy 5 kg cylinders. The initiative has also helped in increasing the spread of LPG usage from 66 per cent to 88 per cent in rural areas.
The social welfare scheme has now benefitted six crore beneficiaries, officials said.