Uttar Pradesh has rolled out cylinder refill subsidies for 1.89 crore families, highlighting the Ujjwala Yojana’s impact (Representative image)
1,500 crore as cylinder refill subsidy to 1.89 crore beneficiary families under the Ujjwala Yojana. 983.45. 335.40, after which a Ujjwala beneficiary has to pay Rs. 648.55 from her own pocket. 650 may seem ordinary, but for a daily-wage laborer, a farmer, or a poor family, arranging such a large sum during a festival is a considerable mental and financial burden.
Because a celebration is complete only when every home is illuminated, that night, every doorstep in Ayodhya had a lamp,. Those lamps symbolized faith, joy and collective happiness, proclaiming for generations to come that ‘darkness has lost and light has triumphed’. – Prof. Deepti Taneja, Economist, Delhi University AYODHYA: In an era long past, when Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram returned to his birthplace Ayodhya after completing fourteen years of arduous exile in the forest and vanquishing Ravana’s immense arrogance, countless lamps were lit from the banks of the Saryu to every street and courtyard of Awadh. Centuries have passed, but the essence of Diwali remains unchanged. The question now is whether this light has reached the kitchen where, for generations, smoke from the traditional hearth had been a constant companion to the family’s breathing. Ujjwala Yojana answers this question, and this Diwali, that answer has become even more evident in Uttar Pradesh. CM Yogi Adityanath has presented a festive gift by distributing more than Rs. This is not merely a transfer of money, but an extension of the age-old sentiment that a lamp is truly meaningful only when its light reaches the doorstep of the person standing in the last row. To understand the depth of this gift from the Yogi government and its impact, we must recall when a domestic LPG connection was considered a symbol of a family’s financial prosperity and social standing. An ordinary person, a poor laborer or a rural woman, could not even think of having a gas connection. This was the darkness that kept half the country’s population, particularly rural women, confined for decades to smoke-filled kitchens. A mother who cooked food using cow-dung cakes and firewood was forced to fill her lungs with smoke several times a day. Ujjwala Yojana not only freed women from that smoke, but also restored their health security and self-respect. In UP, Yogi government has succeeded in uprooting this system of bribery and middlemen. This is the light brought into the system that has permanently defeated the darkness of decades-old corruption. If we look at the economic and emotional aspects of this special Diwali gift from the Yogi government to the women of the state, its significance becomes even more evident. At present, a domestic gas cylinder costs Rs. The Central Government provides a subsidy of Rs. For the middle class, around Rs. Amid festive expenses, the idea of getting a cylinder refilled was often postponed, forcing the woman of the household to turn once again to firewood or cow-dung cakes. On the occasion of Diwali, state government has provided the entire amount payable by the beneficiaries directly to the concerned gas companies.
Today, without any recommendation or bribe, a poor woman is proudly obtaining a gas connection in her own name.
This means these 1.89 crore families will not have to pay a single rupee out of pocket for the cylinder. What this direct saving of around Rs 650 means to a poor family cannot be understood from an air-conditioned room. This benefit, reaching 1.89 crore homes, directly impacts a large section of Uttar Pradesh’s population.
Because women in the household directly face the challenges of managing the kitchen, it is also a highly impactful step towards women’s empowerment,. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Lucknow | Silver Rate in Lucknow | Bank Holidays in Lucknow | Public Holidays in Lucknow | Lucknow AQI | Weather in Lucknow | Petrol Price in Lucknow | Diesel Price in Lucknow | CNG Price in Lucknow | LPG Price in Lucknow Stay updated with the latest Lucknow news. This saving will give a poor father the means to buy his children their favorite sweets from the market. The same money will make it possible to buy a few extra earthen lamps from a potter to decorate the courtyard, or get some new clothes or sparklers for the children. When a mother prepares Diwali delicacies on a gas cylinder provided free of cost and the children use the money saved to light diyas in the courtyard, true Ram Rajya will descend upon that home. Goswami Tulsidas Ji, while offering an exceptionally precise and timeless description of Ram Rajya in the Ramcharitmanas, wrote, ‘Daihik Daivik Bhautik Tapa. Ram Raj Nahin Kahuhi Byapa. This means that in the kingdom of Lord Ram, no living being suffers from physical, divine or material distress. This step by the Uttar Pradesh government is a practical embodiment of the philosophy of Antyodaya. This policy decision is not merely an economic concession, but an outstanding model of good governance and social justice. It reflects the government’s priorities. When, amid grand claims of development, the everyday happiness of the common person is also considered, democracy attains its fullest expression. Diwali also teaches us that even a small lamp can pierce dense darkness. This Ujjwala cylinder refill benefit provided by the Uttar Pradesh government is like that small lamp, piercing the darkness of inflation and deprivation and spreading the true radiance of the festival across millions of faces. When millions of diyas are being lit on the banks of the Saryu in Ayodhya, setting a world record, gas stoves burning in the remote villages, hamlets and small towns of the state, along with earthen lamps adorning the courtyards of those homes, will bear witness to the fact that this festival of light belongs to them too. Download the TOI App.
In today’s democratic context, when a government opens its treasury to relieve citizens of ‘material distress’ (economic deprivation and hardship), it takes a sacred step toward that very ideal of Ram Rajya. Today, light is truly winning and darkness is losing.