Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching the next leg of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on August 10. An official statement said that Modi will do so by handing over Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG or cooking gas) connections, at Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing. He will interact with beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme and will also address the nation.
PMUY 2.0 was announced in the Union budget for financial year 2021-22. There was a provision for an additional 10 million LPG connections under the scheme. “These 10 million additional PMUY connections (under Ujjwala 2.0) aim to provide deposit-free LPG connections to those low-income families who could not be covered under the earlier phase of PMUY,” an official statement said.
The next leg of the scheme was ready in May 2021 but the implementation had to be pushed back because of the raging Covid-19 pandemic. According to officials in the know, since PMUY also requires doorstep verification of recipients, there was a higher risk of contamination. But with crucial assembly elections due in early 2022, the electorally lucrative PMUY scheme could not be pushed ahead indefinitely.
“During Ujjwala 1.0 launched in 2016, a target was set to provide LPG connections to 5 crore women members of Below Poverty Line households. Subsequently, the scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories. Also, the target was revised to 8 Crore LPG connections. This target was achieved in August 2019, seven months ahead of the target date,” the statement said.
Similar to the earlier scheme, along with a deposit free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide first refill and hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries. “Also, the enrolment procedure will require minimum paperwork. In Ujjwala 2.0, migrants will not be required to submit ration cards or address proof. A self-declaration for both ‘family declaration’ and as a ‘proof of address’ will suffice,” the statement added.
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