PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA SCHEME

What is it?

• Announced in budget of 2016-7
• Aim – providing five crore subsidised Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connections to women of poor households (Below Poverty Line) in the next three years.

Q A
Why is this scheme so remarkable? First, it has brought focus to the important developmental issue of enabling clean cooking energy. This is because indoor air pollution, caused by smoke from the traditional chulha stove leads to 1.3 million premature deaths in the country every year.

Second, the scheme improves the quality of life of poor women whose health interests are usually neglected in household priorities.

According to survey by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) around 95% of LPG-deprived households cite their inability to pay as a barrier to their adopting LPG. Thus, the scheme is well-targeted to address the crucial impediment of a high upfront cost.

Challenges to scheme? 1. High monthly expenditure incurred.

2. Limited LPG distribution networks in rural areas also need simultaneous attention to cover five crore households in the next three years.

3. Awareness and administrative issues – About 40 per cent of LPG-deprived households in rural areas cite a lack of information about the process of getting a connection as a challenge. For households in urban slums, the absence of residential proof or a lack of interest by urban dealers to serve them also pose a barrier.

What should be done? 1. To deal with cash flow problem following needs to be done– First, creating awareness about the actual cost of fuel and its benefits, especially those related to health, over status quo. Second, tackling the issue of cash flow, especially for the strata of population who find it difficult to pay for the aggregated cost of refilling a large cylinder. Introducing smaller LPG cylinders (2 to 5 kg) for this section could be a solution. Third, leveraging mobile money for LPG payments.

2. For deepening reach – Innovation is required in distributing LPG in the rural areas, beyond the traditional realm of a dealership model. Leveraging rural supply chains, only for the delivery of the regulated commodity, could be one such approach.

3. Opening exclusive dealerships for smaller cylinders (2 and 5 kg), with specific provisions to serve urban poor areas, could help overcome some of these challenges.

WORD FROM TEAM GS-SCORE –

Relevant for

Infrastructure, Environment of GS:3

For further detail Refer article titled “LPG for every Indian household” from TheHindu dated march 23, 2016

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