'PMUY will reduce cooking drudgery, indoor pollution'

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan explained the modalities of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana while addressing a large gathering at Mathura. He said, "The scheme would impact the lives of women from BPL families in a major way by reducing the drudgery of cooking with polluting fuels and go a long way in reducing indoor pollution and other health related problems". 

Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) was launched on Wednesday here.  He said that MoPNG is committed towards 100 per cent LPG penetration in Mathura district, for both BPL and APL families. He further said that in the last 100 days around 50 lakh LPG connections under PMUY scheme have already been distributed. 

He also appreciated IndianOil’s role in setting up of the Effluent Treatment Plant at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore in Mathura and joining hands with Ministry of Water Resources. "The Sewage Treatment Plant will convert the solid waste cleaned from polluted Yamuna water into energy for industrial and agricultural use", he added.

While addressing the gathering, Union Minister, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari said that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an excellent scheme and it fulfills the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean fuel to BPL families and is a boon to women to experience cooking without smoke.  Uma Bharati thanked Dharmendra Pradhan, for signing the MoU for setting up of an Effluent Treatment Plant and using the treated water for use in IndianOil’sl Mathura Refinery.

Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken a series of welfare oriented schemes. Prime Minister in his address on 27th March 2015 had made an appeal to well-to-do families to give up their subsidy on LPG connections so that the money thus saved can be utilised for giving connections to less privileged homes. Taking the appeal forward, MOP&NG launched the ‘Give It Up’ campaign and  in over an year’s time  more than 1 crore people across the country from all walks of life, including those from middle class have come forward to support this initiative bringing smiles to a million homes. 

Another scheme by petroleum ministry, under the guidance of had received worldwide recognition is the immensely successful "PAHAL Yojana”. This direct cash transfer scheme effectively curbed the leakage of LPG subsidies, ensuring a more focused reach. The scheme has been highly effective in eliminating duplicate LPG connections. 

The "PAHAL" scheme has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cash transfer program (households) in the world. Currently, close to 16 crore LPG customers are receiving their subsidy directly in to their bank accounts. With 2016 being declared as the ‘Year of Consumers’ byDharmendra Pradhan, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has ensured that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) offer customer centric offerings like Sahaj – the online booking and release of new connections, the online booking and payment for LPG refills, ‘1906’- the 24x7 LPG leakage Emergency telephone helpline, to name a few.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme, free LPG connections will be provided to women who belong to BPL (below-poverty-line) households. It has been estimated that nearly 5 crore families will benefit from this. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chosen Ballia, a district in Uttar Pradesh, to launch this scheme as the district’s average gas penetration is one among the lowest in the country. This scheme was sanctioned by the Union Cabinet of Economic Affairs on 10th March 2016.