Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yoja launched in State

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, June 19: Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain on Mody launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yoja (PMUY) for the state at Shillong.

As a symbolic launch of the PMUY in the State, 24 beneficiaries from ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) families were handed over with deposit free PMUY connections.

As on June 1, 2017, Meghalaya has around 6.32 lakh households with LPG coverage of 23 percent.

The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) would strive to achieve 100 percent penetration in days to come.

The OMCs will be organizing “Melas” and “Camps” at various locations for releasing of connection to BPL families. Presently, 46 Distributors are catering to 1.45 lakh consumers in the State. Further, introduction of six new LPG Distributors are in the pipeline to meet the surge in LPG demand in the state.

Hailing PMUY as a program that directly addresses the sufferings of poor women maging kitchen and household, especially in rural areas, state Health & Family Welfare Minister, Roshan Warjri, expressed her gratitude towards Prime Minister rendra Modi, for this initiative.

Referring to PMUY as a significant step forward towards Women Empowerment, Warjri urged the OMCs and distributors to focus on raising customer awareness regarding the utility of the LPG as cooking fuel. Rajen Gohain, Union Minister of State for Railways, in his address mentioned that over 1 crore consumers have responded to PM’s call of “Give it Up” and this in turn has facilitated Government of India’s initiative of PMUY.

Gohain also emphasized on Government’s commitment to development of poorest section of the society and mentioned that PMUY is a part of Prime Minister’s dream of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas.

The PMUY, which was launched by Prime Minister, rendra Modi on May 1, 2016 is a scheme to provide clean cooking fuel to the women belonging to the ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) households across the country.

PMUY aims to provide LPG connections to 5 Crore BPL households by 2019 and is a part of larger program of adding 10 crore new LPG connections by 2019 to achieve full coverage of connections in Indian households.