Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs (FCS&CA) & Tribal Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today urged the people to come forward and avail benefit from welfare schemes launched by state and centre government for improving their socio-economic condition.The Minister said this after launching second phase of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to cover additional households in the state. “The extended phase of PMUY will now cover the households belonging to scheduled categories, beneficiaries of PMAY - Gramin, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, forest dwellers and others.The beneficiaries to be covered, which are in addition to the existing households identified under Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), will also be provided deposit free LPG connections,” the Minister stated.While addressing the gathering on Ujjwala Diwas as part of ‘Gram Swaraj Abhiyan’ held here at Kot Bhalwal today, the Minister said the overwhelming response to the PMUY initiative and its efficient implementation and monitoring have led the government to revise the initial target of releasing 5 crore connections to 8 crore by the year 2020 in the country.On the occasion, Chowdhary Zulfkar distributed free LPG connections along with documents among eligible women beneficiaries from different panchayats of the block.The Minister said the directions have already been passed to the all District Development Commissioners to hold Gram Sabhas in their respective districts to raise awareness among people regarding PMUY extended and other schemes to ensure that no eligible beneficiary be left out.
Enumerating the achievement of PMUY in the state, Ch Zulfkar informed that J&K has been placed on first spot in the country for implementation of the scheme adding that around four lakh free LPG connections have been issued under PMUY to the beneficiaries against the 5.07 lakh beneficiaries whose KYC have been done.The Minister informed the gathering that "Ujjwala Diwas", is being observed at 186 places in the state and 18,600 new LPG connections are being distributed among the already identified beneficiaries. PMUY has been a revolutionary initiative that has transformed the lives of crore of poor households spanning across the length and breadth of the country, he added.Highlighting initiatives taken by the present dispensation, Zulfkar said the State and Union Governments have put in great efforts to ease out the life of people by providing amenities and services in fair and transparent manner. He said initiative like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is a step to provide a clean fuel to people living below poverty line (BPL) by providing them with free LPG connections.He said availing the benefits under PMUY provides smoke-free, convenient and healthy environment which tunes in with the aim of the scheme to improve the health of women, especially belonging to BPL families.Director FCS&CA Ch Rashid Azam Inqalabi, Controller Legal Metrology Department (LMD) Raj Kumar Katoch, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Jammu North Mohammad Alyas Khan, Joint Controller, LMD V.S Sambyal, Deputy Controller LMD Manoj Prabhakar, senior officers of district administration, representatives of public sector petroleum companies and a large number of people were present on the occasion.