Q. Why is this in news?
A. The government has launched the second phase of the Ujjwala gas connection scheme for the poor.
Q. What is Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, aim/features and target ?
A. Launched in May 2016.
Aim: To provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households.
Key features: A deposit-free LPG connection is given to the eligible household with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.
Target: The scheme gained traction with its ambit being expanded to include 80 million poor families from the earlier target of 50 million families with an additional allocation of Rs 4,800 crore.
Q. What are the Objectives of the scheme ?
A.
- Empowering women and protecting their health.
- Reducing the serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuel.
- Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuel.
- Preventing young children from significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to indoor air pollution by burning the fossil fuel.
Q. What is the Eligibility criteria?
A.
- Applicant must a woman above the age of 18 and a citizen of India.
- Applicant should belong to a BPL (Below Poverty Line) household.
- No one in the applicant’s household should own an LPG connection.
- The household income of the family, per month, must not exceed a certain limit as defined by the government of the Union Territories and State Government.
- Applicant must not be a recipient of other similar schemes provided by the government.
