Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY): The government has achieved the target of distributing eight crore LPG connections under Ujjawala Yojana, seven months before the deadline, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement today. The central government had set March 2020 as the deadline to complete the distribution of eight crore LPG connections. PMUY aims to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households and replace the unhealthy conventional cooking fuels such as firewood, cowdung, etc. The use of LPG has its benefits on the health of women and children, environment and economic productivity of women.
The official website of PMUY says the scheme has covered 715 districts of the country and 7,96,81,650 PMUY connections have been released so far.
Top beneficiaries of Ujjawala Yojana
According to the Petroleum Ministry, states of Uttar Pradesh (1.46 crore), West Bengal (88 lakh), Bihar (85 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (71 lakh) and Rajasthan (63 lakh) have topped the list with highest number of beneficiaries under the PMUY. Nearly 40 per cent of the beneficiaries belong to SC/ST categories. The implementation of PMUY has earned domestic as well as global appreciation at various Forums.
State-wise distribution of PMUY connections
| S.No | States / Union Territories | Number of connections released as on 26-08-2019 |
| 1 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 11,850 |
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 3,86,694 |
| 3 | Arunachal Pradesh | 44,525 |
| 4 | Assam | 34,42,678 |
| 5 | Bihar | 85,27,283 |
| 6 | Chandigarh | 88 |
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | 29,75,076 |
| 8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 14,429 |
| 9 | Daman and Diu | 427 |
| 10 | Delhi | 76,836 |
| 11 | Goa | 1,080 |
| 12 | Gujarat | 28,79,590 |
| 13 | Haryana | 7,28,894 |
| 14 | Himachal Pradesh | 1,32,605 |
| 15 | Jammu and Kashmir | 11,94,917 |
| 16 | Jharkhand | 32,78,987 |
| 17 | Karnataka | 31,15,256 |
| 18 | Kerala | 2,51,480 |
| 19 | Lakshadweep | 292 |
| 20 | Madhya Pradesh | 71,38,773 |
| 21 | Maharashtra | 43,89,880 |
| 22 | Manipur | 1,55,698 |
| 23 | Meghalaya | 1,49,844 |
| 24 | Mizoram | 28,059 |
| 25 | Nagaland | 54,741 |
| 26 | Odisha | 47,18,049 |
| 27 | Puducherry | 13,548 |
| 28 | Punjab | 12,23,296 |
| 29 | Rajasthan | 63,05,175 |
| 30 | Sikkim | 8,712 |
| 31 | Tamil Nadu | 32,28,487 |
| 32 | Telangana | 10,64,784 |
| 33 | Tripura | 2,69,389 |
| 34 | Uttar Pradesh | 1,45,76,558 |
| 35 | Uttarakhand | 4,00,390 |
| 36 | West Bengal | 87,99,593 |
| Grand Total | 7,96,81,650 | |
*Source – PMUY.GOV.IN
PM Narendra Modi to gift connection number – 8th crore
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hand over the 8 croreth connection under Ujjwala Yojana at an event in Sendra, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement today. PM Modi had launched Ujjawal Yojana May 1, 2016 from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, by handing over the first connection to the beneficiary.
The scheme was implemented by three state-owned Oil Marketing Companies – IOCL, BPCL and HPCL – in all the States/UTs of the country in a mission mode and achieved the target of 8 crore connections, seven months ahead of the timelines set (March 2020).