Question : LPG Facility

(a) whether even the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) are not using cooking gas cylinders due to their high cost;
(b) if so, the action plan being prepared by the Government to deal with the said problem;
(c) whether there is any monitoring mechanism to assess the success/failure of schemes and if so, the details thereof;
(d) the number of households which are still deprived of LPG as cooking fuel and depending on firewood, coal, dung-cakes, etc. as primary source of cooking; and
(e) the measures taken by the Government to make the facility of LPG available at the doorsteps of villagers?

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) to (e) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 304 BY SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT AND SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM TO BE ANSWERED ON 15TH JULY 2019 REGARDING ‘LPG FACILITY’. (a) to (c) Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have reported that nearly 86% of PMUY beneficiaries who are atleast one year old have returned for the second refill. Further, the PMUY beneficiaries get applicable subsidy directly into their bank account under PAHAL Scheme. In order to encourage the PMUY beneficiaries to adopt and use LPG on sustained basis, OMCs have taken measures which include:–
(i) offering swap facility i.e. to provide small 5 kg cylinder against 14.2 kg cylinder as per the requirement.
(ii) conducting Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat to educate beneficiaries on the benefits of sustained use of LPG and its safe usage.
(iii) launching audio visual media campaign to spread awareness on advantages of use of LPG.
(iv) targeted SMS campaign to reach to beneficiaries who have not comeback for refill.
(v) display campaign by way of banners, standees and hoardings at public places.
(d) As on 08.07.2019, OMCs have released more than 7.34 crore LPG connections across the country. Adoption and use of LPG on sustained basis by a beneficiary of PMUY involves behavioural change and also depends on several factors which include food habits, cooking habits, price of LPG, availability of free firewood, cow dung etc.
(e) In order to address the issue of easy access and availability of LPG at the doorsteps to the LPG consumers living especially in rural areas, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have undertaken massive LPG network expansion drive in recent years. During the last 5 years, OMCs have commissioned more than nine thousand LPG distributorships to make LPG easily available and accessible to the customers. Further, the LPG distributors under the category of Urban, Rurban and Gramin Vitraks are required to make home delivery of LPG cylinders in their respective areas of operation.