About 85% of Ujjwala beneficiaries in 4 States still use earthen stoves
Study recommends that the scheme should move beyond benefits for women alone to change household behaviour
Priscilla Jebaraj
NEW DELHI
The hidden truth of the
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yoj-
na (PMUY), being touted in
the Bharatiya Janata Party’s
(BJP) election campaigning
as one of the big successes of
the incumbent government,
is that most rural house-
holds with LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) connections
still use chulhas with fire-
wood or dung cakes, to the
detriment of rural health.
Financial reasons
A new study from the Re-
search Institute for Compas-
sionate Economics (r.i.c.e)
shows that 85% of Ujjwala
beneficiaries in rural Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pra-
desh still use solid fuels for
cooking, due to financial
reasons as well as gender in-
equalities. The resultant in-
door air pollution can lead
to infant deaths and harm
child development, as well
as contribute to heart and
lung disease among adults,
especially the women, cook-
ing on these chulhas.
The survey, conducted in
late 2018, covered a random
sample of 1,550 households
in 11 districts of the four
States, which collectively
have two-fifths of the coun-
try’s rural population.
The Ujjwala Yojna,
launched in 2016, subsidises
LPG connections for rural
households by providing a
free gas cylinder, regulator
and pipe. Central govern-
ment data shows that more
than six crore households
have received a connection
through the scheme. The
r.i.c.e study shows that in the
four States surveyed, there
has indeed been a substan-
tial increase in LPG owner-
ship due to the scheme, with
a greater fraction of their
monthly consumption, and
they may be less likely to get
a refill immediately after a
cylinder becomes empty,”
says the report, suggesting
that higher refill subsidies
and monitoring may help to
change behaviour.
Gender inequalities also
play a role. Surveyors found
that almost 70% of house-
holds do not spend anything
on solid fuels, meaning that
the relative cost of an LPG
cylinder refill, even if subsi-
dised, is far higher. Women
are more likely to make
dung cakes, and while men
76% of households now on the previous day. They among those who received are more likely to cut wood,
owning an LPG connection. found that only 27% of hou- an LPG connection from the women are often the ones
However, more than 98% seholds exclusively used the government; almost 53% ex- collecting and carrying it.
of these households also gas stove. Another 37% re- clusively used the chulha, The study argues that these
own a chulha. Surveyors ported using both the chul- while 32% used both. “Ujj- women, who do the unpaid
asked if food items — roti, ha and the gas stove, while wala beneficiaries are poor- labour needed for “free” so-
rice, sabzi, dal, chai and 36% made everything on the er, on average, than house- lid fuels, are not typically
milk — had been cooked on chulha. holds who got LPG on their economic decision-makers
the chulha or the gas stove The trend is more acute own. Refilling the cylinder is in the household, hindering
a shift to LPG usage.
Most of the survey res-
pondents agreed that it was
easier to cook on a gas stove,
but felt that food cooked on
the chulha — especially rotis
— was tastier. The survey
found that while 70% of res-
pondents thought the gas
stove was better for the
health of the cook (typically
a woman), more than 86%
felt that cooking on the chul-
ha was better for the health
of those eating, reflecting ig-
norance of the fact that am-
bient air pollution is harmful
even to those who are not
cooking the food.
A common belief was that
“eating food cooked on gas
causes gas [in the stomach],”
said the report, suggesting
that awareness campaigns
for the Ujjwala Yojna need to
move beyond benefits for
women in order to change
household behaviour.