Ujjwala 2.0 launches, LPG connections handed over by PM Modi

Uttar Pradesh: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana – PMUY) by distributing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections by video conferencing. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri attended the event.

Yogi Adityanath was present at the event while Puri attended via video conferencing. ‘Having universal access to LPG enables eight crore Indian women to live healthy, smoke-free lives. #PMUjjwala2 lays the foundation for the transformation of another 1 crore poor families,’ Puri tweeted. At the event, Yogi Adityanath explained that 1.5 crore families in Uttar Pradesh had benefited from the first phase of the Ujjwala scheme. During COVID, all beneficiaries received six months supply of free cylinders.

As part of Ujjwala 1.0, a target was set to provide LPG connections to five crore women of below-poverty-line (BPL) households in 2016. The scheme was subsequently expanded to include women from seven more categories in April 2018 (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden dwellers, forest dwellers, islands).

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In addition, the target was revised to eight crores LPG connections. Seven months ahead of the target date, this target was achieved in August 2019. Under the PMUY scheme, an additional one crore LPG connections were provided in the Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22. One crore additional PMUY connections (under Ujjwala 2.0) aims to provide deposit-free LPG connections to those low-income families that couldn’t be covered under the earlier phase of PMUY.

The Ujjwala 2.0 initiative will also provide free hotplates and refills to the beneficiaries along with the deposit-free LPG connection. A minimal amount of paperwork will also be required for the enrollment process.  Migrants will not have to submit ration cards or proof of address under Ujjwala 2.0. Both a family declaration and proof of address can be provided by self-declaration.