NEW DELHI: In the next two days, representatives from a state-run fuel retailer will knock on the doors of a poor household — in all probability in oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan ’s home state Odisha. That household will mark the 2 crore milestone in the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Ujjwala’ scheme for providing free LPG connections to BPL (below poverty line) households.In the backdrop of projects being known more for delays, the milestone will mark the feat of accomplishing in 11 months the task of reaching 33% more households than was planned for the whole of 2016-17.Ujjwala was launched on May 1, 2016 by PM Narendra Modi at a rally in UP’s Ballia district. The Rs 8,000 crore scheme envisages providing LPG connections free of cost to five crore BPL (below poverty line) households by 2019. For 2016-17, the target was set at 1.5 crore households.The oil ministry achieved this in just nine months. Ujjwala's rapid progress could prompt the government to consider raising the overall target since it has proven to be major vehicle for political outreach. The rapid progress of Ujjwala has raised the number of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households with LPG connections to 37% of the total LPG coverage in the country. The number has risen to 13% for minorities.The national LPG coverage too has grown from 61% as of January 2016 to 71% of the total households in the country. India is home to more than 24 crore households.As TOI first reported on March 11, speedy implementation of Ujjwala and rural electrification drive over the last two years in UP overshadowed the Samajwadi Party’s outreach programmes and provided fuel for BJP ’s juggernaut in the state. Both schemes brought immediate and tangible improvement in the daily lives of beneficiaries. This established a connect with people about the PM’s development plank.At a political level, Ujjwala independently addresses women from economically weaker backgrounds by contributing towards improving their health and ridding them of the daily burden of collecting firewood or other unhealthy fuel.Womenfolk from economically weaker sections still depend on firewood, coal and dung cakes as cooking fuel. According to a World Health Organisation report, smoke from such fuels inhaled by women is equivalent to burning 400 cigarettes in an hour and causes several respiratory and other diseases.In addition, women and children have to go through the drudgery of collecting firewood. The idea is that after getting a LPG connection, there would be no need for women to collect firewood or dung and they can spend that time more productively.Eastern region and hill states, where LPG coverage was less than the national average, have been the focus areas for the scheme. The government has also put J&K, Uttarakhand , Himachal Pradesh and all states in the north-east on the priority list for releasing LPG connections under Ujjwala.