The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) audit on the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) released last month (December 2019), says it has met nearly 90 per cent of its aim of giving clean cooking fuel to 80 million people by March 2020. However, tribals in Gattepayali village in Gadchiroli, who benefited from the scheme initially, continue to cook with firewood. They still cannot afford to refill their cylinders by paying Rs 900, a fact mid-day had highlighted in 'Deep Inside Gadchiroli, A Tale Of Two Gas Schemes,' on April 11, 2019. Gattepayali village is located 29-30 km from Gadchiroli district and most of the 80-odd houses here got the cooking gas connection by paying a mere Rs 200. But villagers such as Amol Madavi and Shivaji Dugga who spoke to mid-day in April 2019, still continue to cook with firewood and the cylinders lie useless in their houses, as they cannot afford to refill them.

The CAG report does admit that sustained refill is a challenge, as many beneficiaries are not changing the LPG cylinder regularly. The CAG has also proposed recommendations in the 94-page report.