Ujjwala scheme: 18,069 houses covered in DK

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) District Nodal Officer H C Krishna said 18,169 free LPG connections have been provided to the eligible households in Dakshina Kannada district under the Yojana.

Addressing media persons in the city, Krishna said Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the project on May 1, 2016. The project is aimed at providing eight crore free LPG connections to BPL households in the country by 2020. Five crore 86 lakh connections have been provided till December 26, he explained.

In Karnataka, the programme was launched in June 2017.

Along with the free LPG connection, subsidy will be provided for the purchase of gas stove and refills. The subsidy amount will be adjusted to the loan amount up to six refills.

The scheme has covered the rural households to a great extent. As much as 91% of PMUY beneficiaries have come back for refills of LPG cylinder, he said.

LPG coverage

Krishna said that the national coverage of LPG has been 89.5% as on December 1, 2018, compared to 62% as on April 1, 2016. The district coverage of LPG as cooking fuel stands at 97.14% with 4,87,568 households as on December 1, 2018 as compared to 86.34 % as on April 1, 2016.

Last year, the facility was extended to include seven new categories - SC/ST households, beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (rural), Antyodaya Anna Yojana, forest dwellers, most Backward Classes, tea and ex-tea garden tribes and people residing in islands and river islands.

The BPL families, which do not come under the above seven categories, may also avail the facility by submitting relevant documents including KYC, Aadhaar and 14 point declaration.

The PMUY district nodal officer said that in Dakshina Kannada, 18,169 beneficiaries have been provided with the facility till date. Of these, Indian Oil Corporation has released 5,277 connections, BPC has released 3,754 connections and HPC has released 9,138 connections, he added.

HPC Chief Regional Officer N Ramesh was present in the press meet.