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International Relations GS 2 In the news 4 times

PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and Clean Cooking

Achievements and Vulnerabilities

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016, provided free LPG connections to BPL households, particularly women, to transition from polluting biomass cooking to clean cooking gas. It has been a flagship scheme for public health, women's empowerment, and indoor air pollution reduction.

Key details
  • As of 2026, over 33 crore LPG connections exist in India; PMUY alone covers approximately 10.3 crore BPL women beneficiaries.
  • PMUY reduced indoor air pollution (IAP), which the WHO links to approximately 4 lakh premature deaths in India annually (largely women and children).
  • The government's priority in the crisis was protecting PMUY households from supply disruption — a signal of the scheme's political and social centrality.
  • However, the rapid expansion of LPG dependence without diversifying supply sources created a structural vulnerability: more households became dependent on the same geopolitically exposed supply chain.
In the news

Tracked since March 11, 2026 · last seen March 11, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes

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