(a) whether the Government proposes to provide free LPG licences to BPL families in rural and semi-rural areas of the country and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of funds allocated along with the time by which the said licences are likely to be issued across the country, State/ UT-wise; and
(c) the likely impact of the said move on the BPL families ?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) & (b)In order to provide clean cooking fuel to every poor household and expand the coverage of LPG especially in rural areas in the country, the Government has launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) with a budgetary support of ? 8000 crore to provide 5 crore new LPG connections to the women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families over a period of three years starting from Financial Year 2016-17, subject to the condition that no LPG connection should already exist in the name of any family member of the household. During Financial Year 2016-17, an amount of Rs. 2499,99,99,700/- was reimbursed to Oil Marketing Companies towards release of LPG connections under PMUY.
(c)The Scheme has been implemented with an objective to address adverse impact on health of human beings using conventional sources of cooking fuels such as fire wood, cow dung etc. LPG being clean cooking fuel will lead to reduced emission of smoke and does not cause harmful effects on health of the users.
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