Around 2.78 lakh LPG connections have been issued to women beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which has resulted in increasing LPG Coverage in the State to 85.20%.This information was given by the Minister of State (I/C) Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.He said 2.20 crore LPG connections have been issued to BPL families under PMUY during 2016-17 surpassing the target of 1.5 crore for the said fiscal.Pertinently, PMUY was launched on 1st May 2016 at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.The Minister said that during 2016-17, Oil Marketing Companies have issued a total of 3.25 crore new LPG connections across the country. “This is the highest ever LPG connections released in any given year. Today the total number of active LPG consumer has crossed 20 Crore. This has been a quantum jump from 14 Cr in the year 2014,” he said.Pradhan said LPG demand in the country has registered a growth rate of more than 10%. More than 4,600 new distributors have been added in the last 3 years which have come up primarily in rural areas, he said.Speaking on the key features of implementation of PMUY, Pradhan said that 85% of the new consumers have come back for a refill. About 38% of the beneficiaries in PMUY are from SC/ST categories. He added that PMUY has been implemented in a participatory mode involving beneficiaries, elected representatives, distinguished personalities, local administration etc.He said a differential communication strategy to popularize the scheme as well as educating beneficiaries on safety norms through regional languages was carried out. There is a 360-degree engagement and also monitoring of the implementation of the scheme. He said PMUY has become a social movement with the beneficiaries coming forward in large number to apply and get the cylinders installed.
The Petroleum Minister also highlighted the efforts made by the Ministry and OMCs by the use of Digital Governance in the execution of the PMUY. He said activities like Digitally aided identification and selection of beneficiaries of Ujjwala; Digital filing of KYC of Ujjwala beneficiaries; transfer of subsidy to all PAHAL beneficiaries digitally without human interference; monitoring of Ujjwala implementation on daily basis using IT enabled dashboard; identification of new locations to set up LPG distributorships through use of technology; Online Application and Online draws have been carried out by the Ministry and Oil Marketing Companies for successful execution of this scheme.The Minister laid emphasis on the efforts made by District Nodal Officers (DNOs) from Oil Marketing Companies. He said that the DNOs have been ‘foot soldiers’ at the ground level to effectively coordinate with all the stakeholders to implement the PMUY.The Minister also said that an exercise was undertaken to get the feedback of the beneficiaries through the district visits by senior officials of Ministry and the Oil PSUs and over 650 districts were visited.Pradhan laid emphasis on safety and safe usage of LPG. He said measures like installation of LPG cylinder through a Mechanic at houses of all PMUY beneficiaries was being done so that safe and correct usage of LPG can be explained to the beneficiaries. Safety Clinics/Camps are being organized on a regular basis Pan-India for the beneficiaries to make them aware of the safe usage of LPG also, he said.