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‘Paise nahin hai cylinder ke liye’: why Ujjwala beneficiaries are going back to firewood, dung cakes

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Beneficiaries of LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in New Delhi in August 2018

Synopsis
Going by the numbers, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a success. But the ground reality is that many beneficiaries are unable to refill their LPG cylinders due to skyrocketing prices. Women in villages are shifting back to traditional chulhas that are extremely hazardous to respiratory health.

The anguish and frustration in Jarina Begum’s voice was unmissable. She had her share of brief stardom in 2016. She was selected, along with nine other women, to be the first beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). Media and government officials thronged her modest home at Dubari village in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau district as she received a steel stovetop, a cooking-gas cylinder, and the guarantee of subsidy that would be credited