The Ujjwala scheme which is considered a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided free LPG connections to 5 crore poor households eight months ahead of schedule, Times of India has reported.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana which was launched on 1 May 2016, aimed at safeguarding the health of women & children by providing them with cleaner LPG fuel for cooking, thereby replacing polluting fuel sources like wood and coal.
Following the launch and armed with a Rs 8000 crore budget, a target was set to provide free LPG connections to 5 crore poor households by 31 March 2019. These beneficiaries were identified on the basis of the Socio-Economic Caste Consensus (SECC).
Now according to the TOI report, this milestone has been achieved eight months ahead of schedule and in celebration of that, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan would hand over the 5th Crore connection to a selected beneficiary, at an event at the parliament.
The Ujjwala scheme was also in the news when it was hailed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for being instrumental in curbing air pollution.
Now following the early completion of the 5 crore target, the Modi government has set another milestone to provide the free LPG connections to 8 crore poor households by 2020. It has been estimated that out of 24 crore Indian households, 10 crore households still continue to be deprived of LPG connections.