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Just before the holy festival of Diwali and Chhath Puja, the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has given a big festival gift to the poor and needy families of the state. In the cabinet meeting held at Lok Bhavan under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the proposal to provide 2 free LPG LPG cylinder refills to crores of eligible beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during the financial year 2026-27 has been approved. This welfare decision of the government will provide direct financial relief to more than 1.86 crore Ujjwala families of the state. Amid rising kitchen expenses and inflation during the festive season, getting free cylinders has brought happiness back on the faces of women in rural and town areas of Uttar Pradesh. A huge amount of ₹ 2,142.78 crore will be spent from the state treasury for the implementation of the scheme, so that festive dishes and lamps of happiness can be lit in the house of every poor woman without any financial crunch.
After the decision of the state cabinet, the Food and Logistics Department has released the complete timetable for the distribution of this scheme. The distribution of both the cylinders to the beneficiaries will be done in a planned manner in two different festive phases. Under the first phase, eligible women will get the first free LPG cylinder refill between October to December 2026 on the occasion of Diwali festival. After this, under the second phase, the second free cylinder refill can be done between January to March 2027 on the occasion of the holy festival of Holi. While talking to the media, the Food and Logistics Minister clarified that this system has been kept completely transparent. The beneficiary will first get the cylinder by booking a refill from their designated gas distributor (Indane, Bharat Gas or HP Gas) as per the normal process and the entire amount of subsidy decided by the state government will be sent back to the bank account of the beneficiary woman through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
To avail the benefits of the free cylinder scheme, the Uttar Pradesh government has set some necessary guidelines and conditions. The government has issued clear instructions that the subsidy amount of the scheme will reach the accounts of only those Ujjwala beneficiaries whose bank account is linked to Aadhaar (Aadhaar Seeded) and whose e-KYC and biometric authentication will be completely updated in the records of the gas agency. Beneficiaries who have not yet visited their gas agency and done biometric verification or NPCI mapping of their bank account may face hurdles in getting the subsidy. The government has ordered all the District Magistrates and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to organize special camps in rural areas to immediately complete the Aadhaar authentication of the deprived beneficiaries so that the account of no poor mother or sister remains empty before Diwali.
In remote rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, especially in the districts of Bundelkhand, Terai and Purvanchal, the smoke from traditional stoves made of wood, cow dung cakes and coal continues to harm the lungs of women and children. Due to lack of money to fill the cylinder, poor women were often forced to burn pots despite having a gas stove. This decision will prove to be a boon for lakhs of poor families from rural areas of Lucknow – from Malihabad, Mohanlalganj, Bakshi Ka Talab to Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Azamgarh and Jhansi. While continued use of clean fuel will provide permanent relief to women from smoke-induced respiratory diseases and eye infections, it will also result in direct savings in basic household savings of about ₹1,800 to ₹2,000 equivalent to two cylinders.
In this cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not only gave the gift of free gas refill to the women of Ujjwala scheme, but also gave green signal to the proposal of distribution of free sarees to lakhs of Anganwadi workers and assistants of the state who take care of health and nutrition at the grassroots level. This step of the government gives an overall message towards women empowerment (Mission Shakti) and poor welfare. The Chief Minister’s Office has instructed all petroleum companies that there should be no delay or black marketing in home delivery of LPG cylinders during festivals. Special flying squad teams of District Supply Officers (DSOs) have been deployed to keep a strict vigil on gas hawkers and distributors in rural areas. With this initiative of the state government, a positive atmosphere has been created in the rural markets of entire Uttar Pradesh and the joy of Diwali has doubled.