new delhi the modi government will on saturday fulfil seven months ahead of schedule his governments promise to help women in eight crore poor households breathe easy by replacing free of cost their smoky chulhas ovens with lpg connection and stovethe prime minister will hand over connection number eight crore under ujjwala his governments flagship social sector scheme at a function in aurangabad maharashtra it was launched on may 1 2016 at ballia in up with a target of five crore households by march 2019 this was later raised to eight crore households by march 2020the scheme has helped expand the use of lpg as cooking fuel to 95 of the population in the country from 55 in may 2014 when modi began his first term as the pm and turned india into the worlds secondlargest domestic consumer of the cleanburning fuel after china the scheme has helped the government connect with the rural masses particularly women and members of scst households that have received 42 of the free connections a recent study by indian chest society and indian chest research foundation indicated lpg use easing chest congestion among rural women by 20 no wonder 82 of ujjwala beneficiaries are returning for refills averaging four cylinders a year against 78 for normal consumerspolitically this has resulted in handsome electoral dividend for the ruling bjp and its allies starting with the up assembly polls that the party swept in 2017the scheme showcases the modi governments prowess in completing projects on time and reversed indias image as a country where project delays are the norm ujjwala also transformed the public perception about the oil ministry from being an economic wing of the government and a playground of corporate lobbies to that of the centres social welfare arm the ministry has come through with flying colours under the watch of dharmendra pradhan who personally oversaw the operation and motivated an army of executives and field staff of staterun oil companies to keep the project running ahead of schedule throughout