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Government schemes

Half-baked scheme: how high refill cost is pushing Ujjwala beneficiaries back to chulhas

Amit Shah, national president, BJP, launches the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana for Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan in Dahod, Gujarat, on May 15, 2016; courtesy of amitshah.co.in

Synopsis
The government claims that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a success. But the ground reality is different. Most households don’t refill their LPG cylinders owing to high costs, and instead switch back to cow-dung cakes and firewood for cooking.

After 15 minutes of fame in 2016 as one of the first nine recipients of an LPG gas connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), Jarina Begum’s life continues to be in misery. The kuccha house she lives in with her family now has a new member gathering dust in a corner — an empty LPG cylinder. Begum and her husband Noor, with a monthly income of INR7,000 and eight mouths to feed, find it difficult to spend INR782 to refill the