Lucknow : With an aim to improve the living standards of poor families, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath began the distribution of free gas connections under Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) on Wednesday.
While distributing free LPG connections through a virtual programme from his official residence, the Chief Minister also interacted with the beneficiaries of as many as ten districts including Banda, Chitrakoot, Hardoi, Amethi, Farrukhabad, Sonbhadra, Rae Bareli, Mahoba, Badaun and Fatehpur.
“There cannot be a better example of women empowerment than the Ujjwala scheme, through which the government has succeeded in establishing a safe and healthy environment for women and children in poor households,” said the CM while interacting with the beneficiaries of various districts.
He went on to say that women are the ones who are responsible for feeding their families. There were eight crore families in the country who did not have LPG connections. Women were forced to cook on wood and coal, which was hazardous for their eyes, lungs and overall health. To help women get rid of this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi worked to pursue the goal of ‘Healthy Life, Better Life’ through Ujjwala.
“Under the guidance of our Hon’ble PM, the government is working to provide all basic facilities to every needy, so that they can see bigger dreams,” added the CM.
Enabling households to cook using smoke-free fuels, the Uttar Pradesh government has set a target to provide 20 lakh free gas connections to the poor under Ujjwala 2.0.
This golden scheme has taken care of the health of our mothers and sisters by freeing them from smoke, on the other hand, has given relief from the trouble of arranging fuel, the struggle of finding dry wood during monsoon and rains and hours in the kitchen, said the CM.
Furthermore, the CM said that before 2014, in this country, people used to form queues from midnight to get one cylinder. Sometimes, even after spending money people would not get a cylinder. Whether people were given cylinders or not, but if any person used to protest they had to face lathi charges. There has been remarkable progress as people today are being provided free connections at the comfort of their homes.
In his interaction with the beneficiaries the CM said that the second phase of the PMUY was launched by the PM by handing over LPG connections in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh. Under the scheme, now not only LPG connection will be given free of cost, but the first refill gas cylinder will also be provided for free.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana under which women belonging to BPL families will be provided with clean cooking fuel was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh itself.
Under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi, about 8 crore LPG connections were given to women under Ujjwala Yojana 1.0. In the first phase of the Ujjwala Yojana scheme, 1,47,43,862 LPG connections were made available to the poor families in Uttar Pradesh. The families that were left out in the first phase of the Ujjwala scheme will now be benefited in the second phase. The decision to provide 1 crore additional connections in the country under Ujjwala 2.0 will further ease the availability of clean cooking fuel and improve the standard of living.
Special provision has also been made in the Ujjwala 2.0 scheme for those migrant laborers who were earlier deprived of this benefit due to lack of proof of address. Under Ujjwala 2.0, migrant workers will be able to avail free cooking gas connection on the basis of a self-declaration without any need for documents like address proof.
*Ujjwala transformed lives*
Women from 10 districts who got free LPG connections and refill cylinders under Ujjwala 2.0 also shared their plight with the Chief Minister through video conferencing.
Be it Rekha Devi of Hardoi or Shabana and Rajni of Farrukhabad, everyone narrated their struggle of fetching firewood from forests in absence of gas connections.
Geeta of Amethi, who cooks food for five members every day, said that getting a free gas connection is no less than a blessing. Safia of Banda, Rani of Sonbhadra and Rajkumari Devi of Rae Bareli shared their struggle of finding wood during rains to the CM and also expressed gratitude to PM Modi and CM Yogi for providing them free connections. The CM also directed the representatives of LPG gas company to contact every family benefiting from Ujjwala and train them in operating cooking gas ensuring their safety.
