Lucknow, Mar 12 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Wednesday that the state government is providing free LPG cylinder refills to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana ahead of Holi and during Ramzan.

Speaking at a subsidy distribution programme in Lucknow, he said that Rs 1,890 crore is being released for 1.86 crore beneficiaries to ensure they can avail of the benefit before the festival.

He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the initiative in 2016 and said that this campaign has provided free LPG connections to 10 crore families across the country, including nearly two crore in the state.

"Our government had promised to provide free gas cylinders to every Ujjwala beneficiary during Diwali and Holi. The state government ensures this by allocating Rs 1,890 crore per instalment, amounting to Rs 3,760 crore annually from the budget," the chief minister said, reiterating the state's commitment to the scheme.

"Since both Holi and Ramzan are being observed, every beneficiary can avail of this scheme," he said, calling it a "gift from the government." Highlighting the difficulties people faced before the Ujjwala scheme, Adityanath claimed that earlier, securing an LPG connection required paying bribes of up to Rs 25,000, and even after obtaining a connection, refills were hard to come by.

"Today, this scheme ensures that women do not have to suffer from harmful smoke while cooking," he emphasised.

The chief minister also highlighted improvements in the state's public distribution system and said there are now 80,000 quota ration shops in the state. He also underlined how electronic Point of Sale (ePOS) machines in these shops are curbing the malpractices in distributing rations, which wasn't the case before.

He added that with this, any attempt at manipulation is immediately detected, and strict action is taken.

Mentioning the Centre's free ration scheme in his speech, Adityanath noted that 15 crore people in Uttar Pradesh are benefiting from it, which was launched four years ago.

The CM also touched upon various initiatives for women's welfare, such as financial assistance for girls, mass wedding scheme and educational support.

He said that under the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana, 22 lakh girls are receiving financial aid of Rs 25,000 each. Since 2017, four lakh girls have been married under the Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana. Initially, the aid under the scheme was Rs 35,000, which will be raised to Rs 1 lakh from April, he said.

He also announced that the state government will give scooters to top-performing female students in board exams. Additionally, working women will get hostel facilities named after Ahilyabai Holkar in every district, he added.

Talking about Uttar Pradesh's economic development, Adityanath said, "Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, Uttar Pradesh has transformed from a 'BIMARU' state to India's second-largest economy." He also said the state government has increased the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 150 per quintal and low-cost canteens will be set up in procurement markets to provide affordable meals to farmers. PTI KIS AMJ AMJ AMJ