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Uttar Pradesh Prepares To Give Free Gas Cylinders To Ujjwala Beneficiaries On Holi, Diwali As Promised In Manifesto

Nishtha Anushree

Oct 17, 2023, 12:19 PM | Updated 12:23 PM IST


When Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched in Srinagar, Uttarakhand in 2016 (PM Ujjwala Yojana/Twitter)
When Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched in Srinagar, Uttarakhand in 2016 (PM Ujjwala Yojana/Twitter)

Uttar Pradesh government is preparing to give a free LPG cylinder before Diwali next month to beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme. Similarly, a free cylinder will also be given during Holi under this proposal from the Food and Supplies Department, which is expected to be approved by the Cabinet soon.

This decision of the government will directly benefit 1.75 crore poor women in the state. According to Jagran, Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra has held a meeting with departmental officials regarding the proposal related to this scheme, providing necessary directions.

It's worth mentioning that during the 2022 legislative assembly elections, the BJP had announced in its Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (Public Welfare Manifesto) that women beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme would be given free gas cylinders on Holi and Diwali.

Last year, a provision of Rs 3,301.74 crore was made in the budget to provide free LPG cylinders to Ujjwala beneficiaries during Holi and Diwali. However, the government couldn't implement this in the past fiscal year.

Even in the current fiscal year's budget, Rs 3,047 crore has been allocated for this purpose. In the state, Indian Oil Corporation has 84,54,560 Ujjwala scheme connections, Bharat Petroleum has 51,69,773, and Hindustan Petroleum has 38,80,054 cooking gas connections.

Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.


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