Question : LPG Connection to Every Household

(a) whether the Government proposes to provide LPG connections to every SC/ST households and those living in far flung and forest areas, island areas, most backward households, nomadic families, specially privileged Diara residents and the girls attaining majority age under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and if so, the details thereof along with the quantum of funds approved during the current year and the time by which the target to provide LPG connection to every household on public grants in the country is likely to be achieved;
(b) whether the Government proposes to provide incentives to the better performing districts in terms of LPG coverage and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of work undertaken/ proposed to be undertaken through the PMUY in Sahabganj, Pakur, Godda and Dumka districts under Santhal Pragana of Jharkhand along with the number of beneficiaries in the said districts under PMUY, district-wise;
(d) the number of youths provided employment in supply chain of cooking gas during the last three years, State/UT-wise;
(e) whether any ground level survey has been conducted to get a feed back from the users of the PMUY about the difficulties faced by them in getting the connection or refill thereafter and if so, the details thereof along with the number of such complaints received and redressed by the Oil Marketing Companies; and
(f) the details of refilling station established in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country under PMUY which are refilling the LPG cylinders to consumers at subsidised rates or without subsidy and the number of LPG cylinders being supplied to PMUY beneficiaries in the country, State/ UT-wise?

Answer given by the minister

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) The Government had launched “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” on 01.05.2016 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.
(b) Initially, priority was given to such States/UTs having LPG coverage less than the national LPG coverage i.e. 61 % as on 1.1.2016. Further, list of priority States was expanded to include the North-Eastern States. Currently, PMUY is implemented in all States/UTs without any restriction on number of connections that can be released under PMUY.
(c) Details of LPG connections released as on 13.03.2018 in Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda and Dumka Districts of Jharkhand State under PMUY are as under :-
Name of District
LPG connections released
Sahibganj
92,342
Pakur
15,840
Godda
41,988
Dumka
64,654
(d) Employment created in supply chain of cooking gas is linked to commissioning of new LPG distributorships. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have reported that 16031, 25692 and 11633 employment generated during Financial Year 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively. (e) OMCs have launched a website www.pmujjwalayojana.com, specially designated for PMUY Scheme, in which consumers can know about the scheme, download form, know-how to apply for the connection, etc. A dedicated toll-free number 18002666696 has been set up to take enquiries, complaints and suggestions related to PMUY. Customer can also register their grievances online by visiting websites of OMCs, Public Grievance Portal of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Social Media platforms, Facebook, Tweeter, MoPNG e-Seva of the Ministry.
Further, 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.
(f) State/UT-wise details of LPG Bottling Plants as on 01.01.2018 in the country including the State of Madhya Pradesh are at Annexure.

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