look news india
Just before the festival of Diwali, the Uttar Pradesh government has opened a box of happiness for crores of poor and middle class women of the state. In a grand state level function organized at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has transferred the subsidy amount of free LPG gas cylinder refill directly into the bank accounts of more than 1.89 crore beneficiary families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). Under this special festive initiative, a huge subsidy amount of Rs 1,500 crore has been transferred digitally by the state government through Direct Benefit Transfer i.e. DBT. With this gift, the extra cost of LPG cylinder has become zero during the festive season, which has brought a wave of happiness among the rural and deprived families.
During the function, the Chief Minister called several women beneficiaries on the stage and symbolically handed over subsidy checks and approval letters. Addressing the program, CM Yogi said that the double engine government is completely dedicated to the respect, safety and self-reliance of women. Smoke-free healthy life is the right of every woman and to fulfill this resolve, the government, as per its election promise, has continued the system of providing two free gas cylinder refills on Holi and Diwali. Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Food and Logistics and Civil Supplies Minister Manoj Kumar Pandey, Minister of State Satish Chandra Sharma and many senior administrative officials were also present in the program.
The functioning of this welfare scheme of the government has been made completely transparent. Beneficiaries have to book and take delivery of 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in the normal manner at the prescribed price from their respective oil delivery distributor (Indane, Bharat Gas or HP). As soon as the successful delivery of the cylinder is confirmed, the entire refill subsidy amount payable by the state government is directly transferred to the Aadhaar linked bank account of the beneficiary woman. Thus, this cylinder available during the festive season proves to be completely free for women.
The Food and Logistics Department has laid down clear guidelines to avail direct benefits of the Free Gas Cylinder Scheme:
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Active Ujjwala Connection: Only regular women beneficiaries registered under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana of the Central Government are eligible for this.
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Aadhaar Linking (Aadhaar Seeding): The beneficiary’s bank account must be active and linked to Aadhaar on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mapper.
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Biometric e-KYC: It is necessary to complete biometric or face-authentication e-KYC of the consumer at the gas agency level, so that money can be prevented from going into ineligible or fake accounts. DBT messages have started reaching their accounts today itself for consumers whose KYC process has been completed.
Amidst the increasing kitchen expenses during festivals, this assistance given by the government has become a big support in balancing the household budget of women. Apart from liberating mothers and sisters from respiratory diseases caused by wood and coal smoke in rural areas, this step is proving to be a milestone in the direction of women empowerment. For the financial year 2026-27, the government has made a strong financial provision of more than ₹ 2,142 crore in the budget for the operation of this entire scheme, under which the first cylinder will be provided completely free of cost on the occasion of Diwali and the second on the upcoming festival of Holi.