Ujjwala LPG scheme to hit 3-crore mark today

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will allot LPG connection to the 3,00,00,000th beneficiary under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Isanpur Mota village of Gandhinagar on Saturday, and also launch the LPG Panchayat.

Launched in May 2016 by PM Narendra Modi, PMUY aims to provide LPG connection at a subsidised rate to 5 crore economically weaker households by 2022.

"The idea of LPG Panchayat is to make people aware of benefits of LPG and to increase its penetration in rural areas. The Central government aims to hold around 1 lakh LPG Panchayats across the country. Tomorrow will mark its national launch," Sanjiv Jain, state-level coordinator of Oil Industry, told media-persons.

At the Panchayat, the beneficiaries will talk about how getting an LPG cylinder has changed their lives, its impact on their health, their experiences about the scheme, and other aspects. Talking about challenges faced during implementation of Ujjwala Yojana, Jain said that reaching out to women in rural areas, and servicing them were the key challenges.

11.39L connections across Gujarat

As many as 11.39 lakh LPG connections have been allotted in Gujarat under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, an industry official said. VK Verma, GM in-charge of LPG at IOC, said that the oil industry has contacted more than 31.3 lakh of the 39 lakh households identified as potential beneficiaries. "Of these, 16.27 lakh households have an LPG or PNG connection or were found to be ineligible for the connection. Another 42,000 had submitted incomplete documents, and 1.12 lakh others were not interested in getting LPG," Verma said.