CAG Report On Ujjwala Scheme – Free PDF Download

PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA

• The Scheme provides a financial  support of Rs 1600 for each LPG  connection to the BPL households
• Interest free loan to purchase  stove and refill by Oil  Marketing Companies.

CONTEXT

• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has  expressed concerns over National Democratic Alliance (NDA)  government’s marquee Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana  (PMUY) in terms of- Low consumption,  Diversions and Considerable delays in supply of cylinders.

WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH PMUY

• The report has highlighted the risk of diversion of domestic  cylinders for commercial use- As 1.98 lakh beneficiaries had an average annual consumption  of more than 12 cylinders.
• Similarly, 13.96 lakh beneficiaries consumed 3 to 41 refills in a  month.

DETERRENCE IN DE-DUPLICATION

• Audit noticed that out of 3.78 crore LPG connections,
• 1.60 crore (42%) connections were issued only on the basis of  beneficiary Aadhaar which remained a deterrent in de-duplication.
• 4.10 lakh connections were issued where entire details of family  except that of one member were blank in the SECC 2011 list.
• Data analysis also revealed that-
• 8.59 lakh connections were released to beneficiaries who  were minor as per the SECC-2011 data, which was in violation of PMUY guidelines.
• The CAG, on field visits, also found that connections were given to “unintended” persons.
• The CAG recommended;
• Entering Aadhaar numbers of all adult family members of  existing as well as new beneficiaries to make de-  duplication effective.
• Also appropriate measures in distributors’ software to  restrict issuance to ineligible beneficiaries.

CHALLENGES IN SUSTAINED USAGE OF LPG

• For the 3.18 crore PMUY beneficiaries, as on December 31,  2018, refill consumption declined to 3.21 refills per annum.
• The low consumption of refills by 92 lakh loanee  consumers hindered recovery of the outstanding loan of ₹1,234.71 crore.

DELAY IN INSTALLATIONS

• Delay of more than 365 days in the installation of 4.35 lakh  connections against the stipulated time period of seven days.
• Adequate efforts were not made in distributing the small 5-kg  cylinders for encouraging usage.

PRESENT STATUS OF PMUY

• The scheme met its target of reaching 80 million poor families  in September, seven months ahead of schedule.
• It aims to safeguard the health of women and children and  lays the basis for a fundamental material transformation at  the bottom of the pyramid by covering 715 districts.

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