Bhubaneswar: With an aim to safeguard the health of women and children by providing them with LPG, a clean cooking fuel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in May 2016. Huge money has been spent for its promotion and publicity.
However, the scheme has failed to meet its objective in Odisha—the home state of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan—as over 12 lakh PMUY beneficiaries have never come back to refill their cylinders. According to ministry’s data, 35,51,904 people in Odisha were given free LPG cylinders under the PMUY by December 2018. Out of them, 12,69,530 have not returned to refill their cylinders even for once.
Out of 61,081 beneficiaries in Jharsuguda district, only 31,591 returned for sinrefill while 71,774 out of 1.5 lakh took refill in Kalahandi. Barring a few districts like Khurda and Ganjam, the situation is almost similar in other districts of the state.
Out of 22,82,374 Ujjwala beneficiaries who returned for refilling, 3,58,433 people have taken three refills which means only 15.7 per cent refilled their cylinders three times in a year.
Kuni Das of Mangala Basti in the capital did not get an Ujjwala connection even after she submitted required papers. She is still living on her wooden chulha for cooking. Kuni is not alone. Many more households in the state still depend on traditional chulhas for cooking as the PMUY has failed to reach them.
The scheme has not reached Ranjana Maharana of Gop block in Puri. Ranjana said she is still unaware about the scheme.
The average ratio of LPG refill under Ujjwala is a pathetic 3 per annum against the national average of seven. The high cost of refills is one of the main reasons for the low penetration of the scheme.
In a written reply in LS (QN 182), Pradhan admitted that LPG use under PMUY is very low. “The national average of LPG consumption is 6.25 cylinders (14.2 kg) per annum while annual LPG consumption of PMUY consumers is 2.76 cylinders (14.2 kg),” he said.