In anticipation of the upcoming elections and in celebration of Women’s Day, the government has bestowed a significant gift upon impoverished households. The Union Cabinet has sanctioned the extension of a Rs 300 subsidy to beneficiaries of the PM Ujjwala Yojana for the fiscal year 2024-25. Consequently, the subsidy under the PM Ujjwala Yojana will now be provided until 31 March 2025.
Initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 May 2016, the Ujjwala scheme offers complimentary LPG gas connections to underprivileged women. Once again, the Modi administration has augmented the subsidy for the Ujjwala scheme by Rs 300 for the forthcoming year, ensuring that women will continue to benefit from the subsidy until 31 March 2025.
While this decision will place a substantial burden on the government, it is expected to benefit 10 crore families. Moreover, this move will escalate the strain on the government’s coffers by Rs 12 thousand crore. Notably, the deadline for the Rs 300 subsidy under the PM Ujjwala Yojana was initially set for 31 March 2024, but has now been extended by one year to 31 March 2025.
The government has raised the dearness allowance for its employees.
The recent decision made by the Central Government entails a significant increase in the dearness allowance for government employees, amounting to a 4 percent hike. Consequently, the dearness allowance has now reached 50 percent. Central employees and pensioners will receive Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief at this new rate. This adjustment will come into effect on January 1, 2024, benefiting a substantial number of employees. It is worth mentioning that this decision will positively impact 48.67 lakh central employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners. Previously, under the Seventh Pay Commission, the dearness allowance had been raised from 42 percent to 46 percent, effective from July 1, 2023.
Piyush Goyal provided details on the recent Cabinet decisions, stating that the Cabinet has given the green light to the ‘India AI Mission’ with a budget of Rs 10371.92 crore for a span of 5 years. Additionally, a decision on jute prices was made during the Cabinet meeting. He highlighted that over the past decade, there has been a significant 122 percent rise in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of jute, benefiting 44 lakh jute farmers. This increase will particularly aid farmers in the eastern regions of India, including Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Orissa.
How to apply under PM Ujjwala scheme?
- First of all go to the official website of the scheme https://www.pmuy.gov.in/index.aspx.
- Click on Apply option on the homepage and a dialogue box will open on your screen.
- After this, the required information like name, Aadhaar number, mobile number and other details will have to be given.
- Fill all the information correctly, there should not be any wrong information in it.
- Now upload the soft copy of the required documents on the website, after which the verification process will start.
- After checking the information entered by you, you will be provided a new gas connection.
- You can also apply offline to get the benefits of PM Ujjwala Yojana.