Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday, June 8, 2026, took to X to mark what the ruling BJP is calling 12 years of Garib Kalyan — crediting a cluster of flagship central welfare programmes under Prime Minister Narendra Modi with transforming the lives of crores of poor and marginalised families across India.

Context

Puri's post, written in Hindi, lists five major central schemes and frames them as milestones in a twelve-year journey of welfare delivery. Translated, his opening lines read: 'Ujjwala Yojana ne naari shakti ko dhuein se mukti dilaai' ('The Ujjwala Yojana freed women from smoke'); the Jal Jeevan Mission brought 'the lifeline to every home'; PM Awas Yojana gave 'lakhs of families a pucca house'; Ayushman Bharat provided 'a shield of health security'; and Jan Dhan Yojana 'opened the doors of banking services.'

He concluded with an expression of gratitude to the Prime Minister, writing that these schemes have written 'a new story of dignity, security and self-confidence' in the lives of crores of deprived poor families, and that 'their dreams have found new wings.' The post carried the hashtag #12YearsOfGaribKalyan.

Policy Backdrop

The five schemes Puri highlights span the breadth of the Modi government's social-infrastructure agenda. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched in August 2014, was the first major push for financial inclusion, extending zero-balance bank accounts to unbanked households. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, introduced in May 2016, provided free LPG connections to women from below-poverty-line households, replacing traditional biomass cooking fuels that cause serious indoor air pollution.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, launched in 2015, targets the construction of pucca houses for eligible urban and rural families under a 'Housing for All' mission. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, rolled out in September 2018, offers up to Rs 5 lakh annual health coverage per eligible family for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. Jal Jeevan Mission, announced in the 2019-20 Union Budget, aimed to deliver piped tap water to every rural household.

Together, these programmes form the core of what the government brands as 'Garib Kalyan' — welfare for the poor — and are positioned as building blocks of the broader 'Viksit Bharat' (Developed India) vision. Delivery has largely relied on Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfers, intended to reduce leakage and ensure last-mile reach.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of these schemes are below-poverty-line households, rural women, and families previously excluded from formal banking, healthcare, and housing infrastructure. Puri's post frames the twelve-year arc not merely as a list of programmes but as a 'journey of those homes where facilities reached for the first time' and 'those families who felt for the first time that the government had come to their doorstep.'

As a senior BJP leader and Union Petroleum Minister — the ministry that administers Ujjwala Yojana through oil marketing companies — Puri has a direct stake in one of the five schemes he cites. His post reflects a coordinated party-government communication effort around the anniversary milestone.

What's Next

The #12YearsOfGaribKalyan campaign signals that the ruling party intends to consolidate its welfare-delivery narrative ahead of the next electoral cycle. Independent audits and parliamentary oversight, including any forthcoming Comptroller and Auditor General reports on implementation gaps, will be closely watched to assess on-ground outcomes against the government's stated achievements. Allocations for scheme continuation in the next Union Budget will be a key indicator of the government's commitment to sustaining these programmes.