Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs
Open Access
ISSN: 2332-0761
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2332-0761
+44 1300 500008
Review Article - (2022)Volume 10, Issue 1
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna is a public policy launched by Pradhan Mantri in the year 2016, this policy comes under the category of favorite policies of PM, Every policy is launched with the good intention to provide benefits to maximum people of the country but the success rate and realities of the policy are based on the proper implementation with well-established mechanism, Ujjwala Yojna is one such policy of Government of India under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, launching PMUY was a step in a proper direction but everything depends on implementation. I will critically evaluate Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna, I will start with the socioeconomic conditions of India, I will try to set a background for PMUY, a brief description of the policy i.e, essence of the policy, working of pmuy, objectives of pmuy, positive aspects of pmuy, negative aspects or challenges followed by suggestions.
Natural gas; Give it up campaign; Pradhan mantri ujjwala yojna; LPG connections; Monocular blindness; Socio-economic and caste census and feedback mechanism
Socio-economic conditions of India
Every year in India, thousands of people, lose their life due to immoderate indoor pollution. Trauma is one of the chief reasons for monocular blindness in developed nations; few studies have highlighted this issue in rural areas. There was a survey conducted in April 2013 which revealed that India being a developing nation has achieved 4th position in energy consumption in the world. According to the census of 2011, about 121 million families in India are dependent on traditional fuels for cooking food and 40% of households are still deprived of clean fuel [1].
According to the World Health Organization, filthy cooking fuels cause an estimated five lakh fatalities in India each year, while a considerably larger number of people suffer from a variety of respiratory ailments.
The ministry of rural development identified 24.49 crore households in the SECC-2011 censussurvey (17.97 crores rural and 6.52 crore urban). 10.31 crore households were impacted by at leastone deprivation, with 8.72 crore rural (48.53%) and 1.59 crore urban (24.39%) recognized by the GoI for the release of five crore LPG connections under PMUY [2,3].
According to the NFHS IV 2015-16, over 80% of urban families utilize clean fuels (mostly LPG) for cooking, whereas just 15% of rural households do so (IIPS, 2017).
Pradhan mantri ujjwalayojna
Essence of policy: PMUY is a public policy initiated by PM Narendra Modi in May 2016 in Ballia District of UP, this scheme comes under The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, started in the fiscal year 2016-17, to provide LPG connections to 5 crore women from BPL families over a three-year period, after the revision of the scheme beneficiaries were increased to 8 crores under E-PMUY, all the beneficiaries were to be identified from Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 list [4].
Three Oil Marketing Companies involved were Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
How does PMUY work?
BPL Women who are above 18 years and have no LPG connection can apply for PMUY by submitting the required paperwork to the distributor; SECC list will be matched and after all these procedures connection will be released [5,6].
This initiative includes financial assistance amounting to Rs 1600/- for the new LPG connection, the Central Government will provide this cash assistance, It provided an additional loan facility to balance the cost of the stove followed by the first refill which was to be recovered from the subsidy provided to the beneficiaries on LPG refills under Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) [7].
The consumer is responsible for the procurement of the Hot Plate and the first refill. Customersmay get a Hot Plate when they buy their first refill, or they can get both on a zero- interest creditfrom OMCs and reimburse through EMIs [8,9].
Money achieved from GIVE IT UP CAMPAIGN will be utilized in this effectively.
Objectives
Objectives of PMUY are to provide free LPG connections to women belonging to BPL households, To empower women and children's health by equipping them with a safe cookingfuel-liquefied petroleum gas, it will provide deposit free LPG connections to women (BPL) denied of LPG access to replace cooking fuels used in India with LPG as traditional fuels are harmful and to achieve sustainability, energy, affordability, and clean environment and promote women- empowerment [10].
Challenges to ujjwala
Affordability is the chief reason for people not switching to LPG because the cost of refill is way too high for them and the amount of subsidy is too less, there is a contrasting difference between cost of LPG and firewood, people prefer traditional fuels due to cheapness and that is the reason fordecreasing rate of refills. According to CAG reports 2019, the cost of the refill has increased fromRs. 500 to Rs. 837 (>200) and as per NSSO Survey 2018, the Family income of 20% of people is Rs. 1065 it is very difficult for them to afford refills [11].
A huge gap between refills is observed; According to data analysis- 80% of beneficiaries have taken 04 refills in a year. 1, 32, 67,343 have gone for 1st refill, 1, 09, 29,440 for II refill and 82, 24,227for III refill. In the present scenario, the subsidy is negligible and the cost of refills is more than Rs. 800/-.
The subsidy is another issue, According to various news articles , People are unaware of subsidies, some people in Noida (UP) have not received their subsidy as there are loopholes in the machinery that are preventing people to receive a subsidy. Another issue is that the subsidy provided to beneficiaries is very less as compared to the cost of refill (Rs.14/-,9/-etc) and subsidy has been decreasing continuously. Middlemen have taken the benefit of subsidies in many cases due to lack of awareness and illiteracy [12].
LPG is of optional use for many BPL families as they cannot bear the cost of refill and they have other priorities as well, people in Rural India use LPG in special situations like in shortage of time and monsoon season, there are instances where cooking is entirely done on traditional fuels and LPG is used only in hurry when quick cooking is needed.
Incomplete Beneficiaries have been observed in the Audit reports (Acc to CAG Report), 1.60 crores (42%) connections were issued only based on beneficiary Aadhaar which remained as an obstacle in de-duplication out of 3.78 crores LPG connections, identification process has not been taken seriously as a result 9,897 LPG connections were issued against AHL TINs, names family members and the beneficiary were absent in SECC-2011 list. 4.10 lakh connections were issued against AHL TINs where entire detail of family except that of one member was absent in SECC-2011 list this may have been done intentionally, to fulfil the commercial motives, fake beneficiaries were created. audit observed that there are instances where connections are released in the names of Men and children aged below 18 years. According to data analysis, 8.59 lakh connections were allotted to minors as per SECC-2011 data.
Delay has been observed in delivery of 36.62 lakh LPG refills, beneficiaries had to wait for a long time there are instances where people own stove but no cylinders because there is a lack of distributors and effective management for delivery, sometimes beneficiaries have to cover a long-distance to obtain cylinder and they had to return without getting anything which not only wastes their time but also affects their daily wages [13,14].
Lack of distributors can also be a challenge as there are many places where LPG distributorships could not be established due to law and order problems or it is a forest area. People residing at those places continue to face poor standards of LPG services which ultimately lower down their excitement for the policy. Due to this, there is no home delivery service for beneficiaries.
Commercial use of refills has been observed in 1.98 lakh beneficiaries as per CAG reports, an average annual usage of more than 12 cylinders is noticed which is highly unacceptable in terms of BPL status, and 13.96 lakh beneficiaries obtained 3-41 refills in a month. These facts highlight that there were loopholes and more than required refills were released.
Aadhaar-based Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) system is going through a rough stage as it is facing lawful fights in courts; henceforth transferring subsidies straight to oil companies may result in loopholes in the structure by personal stake gatherings.
PMUY is not for every BPL family as it distinguishes between BPL families with LPG connection and without, BPL families with LPG connection are also unable to afford refills and both face somewhat similar financial crisis. Depriving them from the benefits of PMUY is unacceptable.
Positive aspects
As their merits and demerits of everything and everything have a positive aspect as well similarly there are various positive effects of PMUY discussed here. These aspects will ensure that Ujjwala has performed well in various places.
Affordable connections have been provided with PMUY, it has fulfilled the dreams of many BPL families by providing affordable connections to them, those who could not afford it earlier are now extracting benefits of LPG connection and away from many harmful effects caused by traditional fuels. For a BPL family it was not that easy to obtain LPG due to the cost involved in it but with PMUY this problem has been solved.
An increase in Connection from 87 lakh in 2014 to 483 lakh in 2017 is observed, PMUY has emerged successful in this regard, Majority of the population have understood the value of LPG and harmful effects of its alternatives as a consequence, connections have increased many folds. All India LPG coverage also increased from 61.90% in May 2016 to 94.30% in April 2019.
Decrease in health-related issues can be considered as Positive effects, Issues like Respiratory and Eyes have decreased among women, there are considerable differences in Ocular injuries. Strong human beings make the Nation strong. LPG will improve the quality of life of poor households. About 700 million people in India have been using traditional cooking fuels like firewood, charcoal, etc release smoke affecting the health of women households, Use of traditional fuels leads to environment-related issues like, deforestation which will ultimately cause Soil Erosion, Air Pollution, etc and these problems have been solved by the use of LPG for cooking. Hence LPG is also environment friendly.
Time-Saving cooking is possible due to PMUY as a collection of firewood and cooking based on traditional fuels are time-consuming, PMUY has proved to be advantageous in reducing the cooking time, and women can engage themselves in other things which will enhance their financial status, provide exposure, and develop skills. Employment has increased with PMUY as there is a considerable increase in the number of distributorship and the staff which has provided a job to youth and this will lead to elevation of their financial status. In rural India people are in search of employment opportunities and PMUY has served this purpose (Table 1).
Table 1: Elevation of their finanacial status CAG Report.
| Year | LPG coverage |
|---|---|
| 2016-2017 | 72.80% |
| 2017-2018 | 80.90% |
| 2018-2019 | 94.30% |
Suggestions
Increase free Refills for beneficiaries at least four refills a year should be given freely to make PMUY a successful scheme, Government should increase the budget for the sake of welfare measures, make proper utilization of funds from the ‘Give it Up Campaign’ and well offs should be requested to leave subsidy.
Cost of Refill should be decreased for beneficiaries only (if free refills are not possible) to encourage re fillings and maximum usage of LPG to serve the purpose of PMUY. Instead of subsidy, Government should reduce the cost only because there are instances of no subsidy received, it will solve the issues created by middlemen, lack of awareness regarding subsidy. Thorough checking of beneficiaries is to be done to avoid discrepancies; Aadhaar numbers of all adult family members of existing and fresh beneficiaries should be verified. Appropriate software should be used to prepare a fair list of beneficiaries. The list should be revised periodically. SECC list should be referred only for preparing the list.
Improve distribution networks to avoid delays, free home deliveries of cylinders, will not only ease the task of beneficiaries but will also generate employment. Government must ensure that delivery is being done within a decided time through feedback mechanisms via calls. There should be a system of grading to encourage work efficiency among staff. There is a need for a proper working mechanism to fulfill the task.
Encourage Beneficiaries to switch to LPG for the sake of healthy life and environment, harmful effects of traditional fuels and positive effects of LPG should be highlighted, for this cost reduction of refills should be taken into account.
Feedback Mechanism should be developed to receive responses, valuable suggestions, and experiences from Beneficiaries via call, and authorities should manage a record of this and take actions accordingly.
Every BPL family should be included in PMUY, families with connection and without should not be considered different as their status is same, benefits related to refills should be given to them also though there is no need to issue another connection.
PMUY is one of the good schemes launched by the government to promote welfare in the country, there are positive as well as negative aspects of the scheme, recommendations have been given to make it a more successful scheme, it is a historic move, Environmental friendly cooking is ensured by this followed by well-being of women and children which is the prime motive, there are various loopholes and challenges faced by PMUY, need is to minimize them and advantages should be maximized, discrepancies should be encountered, proper functioning should be ensured, It has contributed positively in the socio-economic life of people. PMUY can achieve great heights if challenges are taken into account.
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Citation: Singh J (2022) How has PMUY Outlived its Usefulness? A Critical Analysis. J Pol Sci Pub Aff. 10:416.
Received: 15-Mar-2022, Manuscript No. JPSPA-22-15295; Editor assigned: 17-Mar-2022, Pre QC No. JPSPA-22-15295 (PQ); Reviewed: 31-Mar-2022, QC No. JPSPA-22-15295; Revised: 04-Apr-2022, Manuscript No. JPSPA-22-15295 (R); Published: 11-Apr-2022 , DOI: 10.35248/2332-0761.21.10.002
Copyright: © 2022 Singh J J. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.