Study of Impact of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana on Mental Health of Rural Women

There are about 10 crore households in India who are still deprived of LPG as cooking fuel and have to depend on firewood, coal, cow dung cakes etc. as the primary source of cooking, the worst of which is borne by the women, who are responsible for large-scale cooking. To tackle this issue with the basic objective of empowering rural women, the BJP government had launched the Ujjwala scheme in 2016. Many more developments followed, however, despite the tireless efforts made by the government under the scheme, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed, especially given the changing lifestyles, empowerment and mental health of women. Mental health is a well-being state in which every person realizes their potential, copes with the usual stresses of life, works productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to their community (WHO, 2010). Mental, physical, and social health are important and integral parts of life for all individuals. As our understanding grows, it becomes more apparent that mental health is crucial for the overall well-being of individuals as well as society. Mental health conditions enable individuals to cope with the common stressors of life and realize their abilities to work productively and fruitfully. The current study is an attempt to examine mental health. The sample consisted of 200 women (100 rural and 100 urban areas) who were randomly selected from Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh. They were evaluated on the Mithila Mental Health Status Inventory (MMHI) to measure mental health. This led to improvement in women's mental state and reduction in stress.