Barriers to and facilitators of uptake and sustained use of LPG through the PMUY in tribal communities of Pune district

Abstract The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), launched in India in 2016, is the world's largest program to provide cleaner cooking fuel to poor households. The PMUY may yield large health benefits because of increased LPG use, and more importantly, reduced chulha use, and thus may significantly reduce household air pollution exposures. This research, conducted in a tribal, difficult-to-reach area of Pune District, leveraged PMUY to study the uptake, adoption, usage, and health benefits of LPG. This work highlighted barriers to and facilitators of adoption and sustained LPG usage. Our findings have program implications and need to be addressed to ensure that poor households continue to use LPG as their primary cooking fuel. Our study indicates that most households expressed a desire to own an LPG gas stove but are not aware about the methods to avail the scheme and rely on the local governments to obtain the LPG. The perceived benefits of using LPG differ among people, depending on their own experiences. The most common perceived benefits include ease of use and less time spent on cooking. However, most people are unaware of the severe health effects of HAP, which, if known, might influence their decision to own and use LPG for cooking. The challenges in availing the scheme include varying registration amount, lesser awareness of the document requirements and multiple trips to the distributors' office to fulfil the documentary requirements. Further, the sustained use is hampered by the non-subsidized refills and unavailability of transport facilities for the refill replacement. Further, the beneficiaries are unaware that the subsidy goes towards the repayment of the loan and more clarity is expected from the distributor when availing the scheme. In conclusion, the population in tribal regions is willing to use the LPG regularly if the refill costs are subsidized. Further increasing logistical and financial support to rural distributors will help in better uptake.