Gas Cylinder Mila? Hai Himmat To Bhara Ke Dikha

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana would give free LPG cooking-gas connections to 5 crore (later raised to 8 crore) below-poverty-line women, launched in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.

The connection target itself was genuinely met, and ahead of schedule: 8 crore connections were released by September 2019. What happened after the connection is a different story. Average refill consumption fell to about 3.21 cylinders a year by December 2018, well below what a household actually cooking on gas would need. Roughly 17.6% of beneficiaries never came back for a single refill, and independent tracking has found around 90% of Ujjwala households still rely mainly on solid fuels like wood for cooking, largely because refills cost more upfront than many families can manage.

“A gas connection in every kitchen. Gas in the cylinder: optional, and mostly not there.”