Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY) aims at providing five crore LPG connections to Below Poverty Line households in the country within three years.
The ambitious project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ballia on May 1 this year, would transform the lives of women of BPL families by reducing the drudgery of cooking with polluting fuels and go a long way in reducing indoor pollution and other health hazards.
Pradhan said that PMUY aims at replacing the polluting cooking fuels mostly used in rural areas with more clean and efficient LPG.
He said that in Amethi, the number of LPG connections have more than doubled to reach two lakh households and in the next two years, the target is to ensure 100 per cent penetration of the LPG connections.
Pradhan said that nearly 90 lakh LPG connections have been released to needy families under the scheme and the 'Pahal Yojna' -- another scheme initiated by his ministry -- has received worldwide acclaim. The scheme directly credits cash into the beneficiaries' account and has put to rest the leakage of LPG subsidies, which are now reaching the people more efficiently.
Pahal has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of world Records for being the largest cash transfer programme in the world and 16 crore LPG customers are receiving their subsidies directly in their bank accounts, the Minister said.
The event, held at the premises of Jawahar Navoday Vidyalay Gauriganj, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said that PMUY is an excellent scheme to provide clean fuel to BPL families and women to experience smokeless cooking.
In her address, Minister of textiles Smriti Irani said that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has been successfully implementing various Women welfare schemes to address the problems faced by women.
Earlier, the three Ministers inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) at Bahadurpur (Jais) under Tiloi Assembly segment.
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