Chief Minister Raghubar Das, on Saturday, directed the officers of department of food and public distribution to ensure 100 percent coverage under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) by September this year.
While reviewing the PMUY implementation in the State, Das praised the officials and said, “It is due to your dedication, honesty and hard work that 29 lakh women of the State have been benefitted under PMUY. The LPG coverage which was only 27 percent till May 16, 2014 has today increased to 82.6 percent."
He said that now in phase two of PMUY, 14 lakh remaining beneficiaries will be covered in the next two months. “We should aim to provide the facility of smokeless cooking and healthy life for the women under this ambitious scheme of the Prime Minister,” CM said.
The State government allotted a total fund of Rs 224 crore in the Financial Year 2018-19 for implementation of Ujjwala Yojana along with provision of Rs. 45 crore in the supplementary budget. A budget of Rs. 150 crore has been proposed to meet the target of providing LPG connection to the remaining 14 lakh beneficiaries by September.
A total of 29 lakh women have been linked to the scheme till date of whom 5.36 lakh were linked in 2016-17, 6.66 lakh in 2017-18 and 16.97 lakh in 2018-19.
During the meeting, Das directed the chairpersons and vice chairpersons of the district and block level 20 point programme committees to appoint Ujjwala Didi within 10 days. “These Ujjawala Didis will help in providing LPG connection to the remaining 14 lakh beneficiaries. In the coming days, these appointed didis will be informed about their work in detail through conferences at district, block and panchayat level,” CM said.
Das emphasised on giving priority to SC and ST women in appointment in the panchayats dominated b scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population. He said, “The Ujjwala Didis should be literate, dedicated and honest.”
In the meeting Das also directed organizing Ujjwala Panchayats in 1002 panchayats across the State in the month of July. Also, he directed the officers to link the remaining beneficiaries with the scheme by organizing camps.
Vice Chairman of the State 20 points programme committee, Rakesh Prasad said during the meeting, “Centre and the State government is dedicated for the overall development of the poor people. From 2015 till date, 29 lakh LPG connections have been distributed in the State and the remaining will soon be done. The officials should work on a mission mode to fulfil the target.”
He informed that Jharkhand is the first State in the country to give a free stove and free first LPG cylinder refill to the beneficiaries.
Secretary of food and civil supplies department Amitabh Kaushal said during the meeting, “District wise target has been provided to ensure that the remaining beneficiaries are linked to the scheme before the Assembly elections. LPG panchayats will play a major role in achieving this target.”
Ramesh Kumar, Managing Director, LPG at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd said that the priority is to provide LPG connection to every household. “We are getting all the support from government to achieve our aim,” he said.