Union Government launches Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for providing free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households.
It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Maldepur Morh, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh. The tagline for the scheme is Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan.
Key facts

• Under PMUY, each of the beneficiaries will receive monetary support of about 1,600 rupees to get a connection of cooking gas. It includes administrative cost, pressure regulator booklet and safety hose
• The scheme seeks to empower women and protect their health by shifting them from traditional cooking based on unclean cooking fuels or on fossil fuels to clean cooking gas.
• It is being implemented by Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is for the first time this ministry is implementing a welfare scheme.
• The identification of eligible BPL families will be made in consultation with the State Governments and the Union Territories.
• It will be implemented over three years’ time frame namely in the FY 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016