In India, access to energy and electrification is decided based on one’s caste and gender, or both. According to research, Dalit households are 15 percentage points less likely to access electrification as compared to non-Dalit households even with similar income and geographical proximity. Cooking gas (LPG) is used by just 16.92% of Dalit households and 9.26% of Adivasi households, and hence the burden of locating alternate sources of energy fall disproportionately upon the women even within these intersections. The paper uses similar arguments to analyse the Government of India’s most recent and possibly the largest initiative for providing clean cooking energy – Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). It assesses the extent to which PMUY is able to enhance the use of LPG by overcoming the existing caste, class and gender-based exclusion. Read the full paper here.
Caste, Class and Gender in Determining Access to Energy A Critical Review of LPG Adoption in India
