New Delhi: The Government has launched Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat which is an interactive communication platform for rural LPG users on various subjects like safe usage of LPG, its benefit to environment, women empowerment and women health, and also use the forum to motivate the consumers to use LPG regularly as a clean cooking fuel. Government had launched “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” on 1st May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to 5 crore women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) with a budgetary provision of Rs. 8000 crore and the target has now been enhanced to 8 crore with additional budgetary provision of Rs. 4,800 crore. The beneficiaries under the Scheme are identified through Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011. The Government has now decided to cover the following categories under the Scheme :-
(i) All SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) (Gramin),
(ii) Antyoday Anna Yojana(AAY)
(iii) Forest dwellers
(iv) Most Backward Classes (MBC)
(v) Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes
(vi) People residing in Islands
(vii) People residing in river islands.
This information was given by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pardhan in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha today.
