The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for extension of time limit by three months w.e.f. 01.07.2020 for availing the benefits of “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana" for Ujjwala beneficiaries

The Government had announced a relief package " Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana" aimed at providing a safety net to the poor and vulnerable who had been hit the hardest by the pandemic. The package also included relief for poor families who had availed of an LPG connection under PMUY. Under the PMGKY-Ujjwala, it was decided to provide free of cost refills for PMUY consumers for a period of 3 months w.e.f. 01.04.2020.

Under the Scheme, Rs. 9709.86 Cr was transferred directly into the bank accounts of Ujjwala beneficiaries during April- June 2020 and 11.97 Crore cylinders were delivered to the PMUY beneficiaries. The scheme went a long way to ameliorate the suffering and disruption caused due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

On review of the scheme, it has been observed that a section of PMUY beneficiaries are yet to utilize the advance credited into their account to purchase the cylinder refill within the scheme period. Hence, the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to extend the time-limit for availing the advance by three months. This will benefit those PMUY beneficiaries who have been credited with the advance for buying the cylinder, but have not been able to purchase the refill. Thus, the beneficiaries who already have the advance transferred to their account can now take the free refill delivery till 30th September.

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VRRK/SH