PMUY launched in Nagaland; 1.8 lakh beneficiaries

Staff Reporter
Dimapur, May 31 (EMN): The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for the state of Nagaland was launched by minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Imkong L Imchen on Wednesday at IMC Hall Dimapur.
The PMUY scheme will benefit 1.8 lakh beneficiaries in two years indentified through the 2011 socio-economic census data. 20 beneficiaries representing the 1.8 lakh were handed the connection at the launching programme on Wednesday.
The launch of PMUY was delayed for a period of one year in the northeast region due to ‘technical reason’ and Nagaland is only the second state after Assam where PMUY scheme has been launched, said Indian Oil-Assam Oil Division (AOD) executive director Dipankar Ray.
Under this PMUY scheme, five crore LPG connections will be provided to BPL families and those will be issued in the name of women in the families.“The centre will give a support of Rs 1600 per connection to the beneficiaries, which shall make LPG connection more affordable and the target of central government is 90 percent where BPL families who do not have LPG connection would be covered through PMUY”, said Ray while briefing media persons after the launch of PMUY.
Addressing on the context of Nagaland, Imchen shared concern and doubt on the shortage of LPG in the state. He therefore appealed the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to address this issue while calling on the mainland media to address the issues of northeast, and not isolate the region.
“Technical issues involved are secondary but supplying sufficiently should be the target as LPG connection is an essential commodity”, remarked the legislator.
The PMUY focus will not only benefit less privileged women but address the environment issue by discouraging felling of trees for domestic purpose which will be replaced by LPG, he suggested.
Also, he stated that the scheme is not only for BJP’s benefit but aims to safeguard the health by providing with clean cooking fuel so that we do not compromise our environment and health which is for the advantage of the many households. Imchen in his address advocated eradicating surplus hoarding by suppliers.
“Subsidised programme has always been practised in the country but the subsidy is not at the advantage of genuine person”, maintained Ray. The government realising that subsidy should be received by the deserving beneficiary have come up with such programmes, added Ray.
Attending to the LPG shortage concern in the state, Ray remarked ‘storage capacity and no access to port’ as the reason for the scarcity of LPG while stating ‘there is no denying that there is availability problem’. However he maintained that the storage capacity in Dimapur is in the process of being increased.
The launch of PMUY in Dimapur was graced by parliamentary secretary for Economics and Statistics Tovihoto Ayemi and Dimapur deputy commissioner, Kesonyu Yhome.