Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY) – Diversion of LPG
Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II – Governance
In News
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in a report on the Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY), has highlighted the risk of diversion of domestic LPG cylinders for commercial use,
PMUY
Objective: Providing clean-cooking fuel to the poor households, which are otherwise vulnerable to health hazards associated with indoor air pollution(which annually causes 10 lakh deaths in India)
It is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies (i.e., IOC, BPCL and HPCL) and their distributors network.
As on 31 March 2019, the oil marketing companies had issued 7.19 crore connections, which is about 90% of the target of 8 crore connections to be achieved till March 2020.
Some of the findings of the CAG report are:
1.98 lakh beneficiaries had an average annual consumption of more than 12 cylinders.The CAG said this level of consumption seemed improbable in view of the BPL (below poverty line) status of such beneficiaries.
To rule out existing LPG connections in beneficiaries’ household, de-duplication was to be carried out based on Aadhaar of all family members.
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 and LPG Control Order, 2000.
It also exposed a mismatch in the name of 12.46 lakh beneficiaries between the PMUY database and SECC-2011 data.
The audit also highlighted the delay of more than 365 days in the installation of 4.35 lakh connections against the stipulated time period of seven days.
