Ujjwala

Background and evolution

The scheme was also part of a wider strategy of using direct benefit transfers, Aadhaar and bank accounts to target subsidies, which began with the PAHAL scheme for LPG in 2015. By linking connections to these systems, the government tried to reduce duplicate and ghost connections and keep subsidy costs under control. Awareness drives through 'LPG panchayats' brought beneficiaries together to discuss safe use and the health benefits of clean fuel.

For generations, most rural Indian households cooked on chulhas burning wood, cow dung or crop waste. The smoke from these fuels causes household air pollution, which is linked to respiratory and heart disease, low birth weight and early deaths, especially among women and young children who spend most time near the stove. Collecting fuel also takes hours of women's and girls' time each week and adds pressure on forests.

LPG had been largely an urban fuel, with connections expensive for poor families. The 'Give It Up' campaign of 2015, which encouraged better-off consumers to surrender their LPG subsidy, created fiscal room, and in 2016 the government launched Ujjwala to provide deposit-free connections to poor women. This page studies Ujjwala as an example of an energy transition at the household level, and looks closely at the gap between getting a connection and using clean fuel regularly, a gap that is central to evaluating the scheme.