The flame of Ujjwala burns strong

Ranju Devi would spend many hours a day collecting firewood for cooking. This was followed by more hours spent over the chulha amid clouds of smoke. When news of the Ujjwala scheme reached her village, she applied for the concessional liquid petroleum gas (LPG) connection. 

The easy-to-use gas stove received with the connection got a place of pride in her kitchen. With more time on hands, she set up a successful tailoring business. 

More than 40 percent households in India use traditional cooking fuels – wood, cow dung and coal, and nearly 95 percent of them cook on traditional chulhas, as per the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 5). Research shows that the absence of clean cooking fuel leads to significant environmental and health issues, including poor eye health and tuberculosis (TB). 

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016 to ensure availability of LPG to rural households.  Having already reached its early goal of 8 crore connections, Ujjwala 2.0 increased the reach by another 1.6 crore connections  by December 2022, benefitting the women, migrants and other deprived sections in rural India lying below the poverty line (BPL). The current coverage for PMUY is nearly 100 percent, though the challenges linked with a programme of such a scale still remain. 

The relevance of Ujjwala scheme 

Women, largely responsible for cooking, face severe health problems in rural areas due to extensive use of traditional fuels. These are compact, cheap and easy-to-use materials such as straw and wood. 

As incomes increase, households stack solid fuel due to uncertain supply of alternate fuel, rather than climb the fuel ladder. Alternative cooking technologies such as solar cookers and biomass-based technology have not been as successful as hoped. 

PMUY, targeted at the transition of rural households to using LPG as cooking fuel, has made major inroads. The total uptake of connections, distribution setup in rural areas, LPG bottling and networking amongst stakeholders have increased. 

There has been good penetration of this scheme but usage is not high, as seen from the high number of connections but low number of refills. Safety concerns, high costs and social issues continue to plague rural households. 

Early years of the Ujjwala yojana 

Ujjwala yojana ensures deposit-free gas connection to poor women, with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 for a new LPG connection. In addition, the gas stove and first refill are provided free of cost.

The initial beneficiaries were identified via the Socio-Economic Caste Census. Bank accounts linked to LPG connection for direct benefit transfer (DBT) of subsidies weeded out fake connections. 

Multiple stakeholders, including government departments, cylinder manufacturers, chain of distributors, self-help groups and the sarpanch of the village, were brought together to ensure smooth implementation. 

Initial connections were given out during public events. LPG panchayats helped with peer-to-peer learning and grievance redressal. The LPG cylinders were priced low to enable a large and deep reach. This further helped democratise ownership and access to LPG.

Women, many of them first-time users, were happy to have time away from the labour-intensive exercise of collecting fuel such as firewood. The time could be utilised for small income-generating activities. 

Time spent in the kitchen became less and more efficient. Young women, who are usually responsible for cooking in households, could devote more time to studies. The LPG connection became aspirational and a moment of pride.

Ear to the ground

A recent survey in three districts of Uttar Pradesh – Bahraich, Barabanki and Maharajganj – threw up some interesting insights. The uptake of the scheme was good across all locations but uneven – ranging from 90 to 37 percent. Maharajganj being the furthest from the state headquarters had the lowest uptake. 

The lowest uptake was seen among the Muslim community, mainly due to a lack of awareness about the Ujjwala scheme. Other reasons that emerged were the absence of requisite paperwork and cost of acquisition. Only 48 percent connection owners accessed refills, as the high cost of the cylinder was a deterrent.

Less than half the users are regular (six cylinders or more in a year) while others are occasional users, ranging from 1-5 renewals. The non-regular users continue to use wood and cow dung as the major sources of fuel.

There is nevertheless a general feeling of positivity towards the scheme. An overwhelming 95 percent of the respondents felt that the scheme has made a difference to their lives in the form of reduced drudgery, better health of women, more time for other work and a cleaner kitchen.

Challenges aplenty

The cost of getting a connection and refilling of cylinders continue to be a challenge. Prices have risen and the current level of subsidy does not alleviate price shocks. 

Households use multiple types of fuels with differential costs and methods for different purposes. One kitchen may have a gas stove, an electric cooking appliance and a cow dung or firewood chulha as well. About 25 percent customers are not regular users, i.e., have had no refill in the last 10 months. 

While the demand may continue, access to refills is sometimes hindered by distance between households and distribution centres, which is sometimes as much as 50-60 km. 

The incentive for the distributors to service customers across segments is the same. The commission they get is not enough to motivate them to reach distant or hard-to-reach areas for refills. This has somewhat been tackled with an increased network of distributors for last mile servicing and with the rollout of the Ujjwala didi model – where identified women serve as energy ambassadors. 

Usage has also been uneven due to the cost of servicing and reach. The full-sized LPG cylinder is the most successful. The 5 kg model, which may be more mobile and cost effective, has not been viable. 

The northeast part of India and the tribal areas of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha do not have reliable access to cylinder refills. These regions need alternate service providers or other technologies for clean cooking fuel, such as improved cook stoves, solar cookers and biogas, or incentives for usage.

Overall, the flame of Ujjwala continues to burn strong!

The lead image at the top shows Ranju Devi, who started a tailoring business after switching to LPG cylinders as she no longer had to spend long hours collecting firewood and cooking on a chulha. (Photo by Nidhi Prabha Tewari).

The article is based on discussion during the 3^rd Village Square webinar on ‘How strong is the flame of Ujjwala’. Panellists were Nidhi Prabh Tewari of Athulya Performance Facilitators PL, Abhishek Anand of Microsave and Vinod Jain of Trust Community Livelihoods. The session was moderated by Prodyut Mukherjee, a renewable energy expert at En-genuity and initiated by Dr Sanjiv Phansalkar, Director, VikasAnvesh Foundation.