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Ujjwala Yojana to benefit eight crore women now
Context:
- The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the increase in the target for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, meant to provide cooking-gas connections to rural women, to eight crore from the earlier five crore.
- The deadline for achieving the target is 2020.
- The Cabinet also approved an additional allocation for the scheme of Rs. 4,800 crore.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and its benefits:
- Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country, claims the government.
- It will empower women and protect their health.
- It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
- It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas
Other outcomes:
The meeting took a slew of decisions across sectors, including:
- Increasing the minimum support price for copra.
- Extending the Discovered Small Fields Policy to include more oil and gas fields.
- Approving several bilateral agreements signed by India
- Giving ex post facto approval to the changes made in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill.
MSP for copra
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for increase in the minimum support price for fair average quality (FAQ) of ‘milling copra’ to Rs. 7,500 a quintal for 2018 season from Rs. 6,500 per quintal in 2017.