NEW DELHI: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday parameters other than Aadhaar will be used for better implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) in low-coverage states like Meghalaya and Assam.
This was decided after Rajya Sabha MP Wansuk Syiem pointed out that most of northeastern states could not properly implement the Central LPG scheme.
The number of households with LPG connection under PMUY in Meghalaya and Assam has remained less owing to low Aadhaar enrolment.
To address this, the ministry is weighing the option to use other parameters to increase LPG coverage, Pradhan said in a press conference on Friday on the occasion of the scheme completing one year. ) The enrolment for Aadhaar in Meghalaya was halted following protests from several quarters. However, the process will start in East Khasi Hills from this month.
“Under the scheme, which took off on May 1, 2016, we had a target of providing LPG connections to 5 crore BPL women within three years. In the first year the target was 1.5 crore,” Pradhan said.
The scheme has already covered 2 crore households below poverty line.
The minister said apart from LPG connections under the Ujjwala scheme, around 1.25 crore connections were provided to households living above the poverty line.
Pradhan added that around 4,600 new LPG distributors have been recruited under PMUY.
The scheme has become more popular in tribal areas since the poor were using firewood, which affects both humans and the environment, he said.
