Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya

In News

•  Government of India has recently issued guidelines for electrification of any leftover un-electrified households identified before 31.03.2019 prior to Saubhagya for covering these under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

About Saubhagya Scheme

• It was launched in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification by providing electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas in the country.
• It is one of  the world?s biggest universal  electrification initiatives with  collaborative and concerted efforts  of the Centre and the States.
•  It is a  concurrent program to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana? (DDUGJY).
• Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.

• Goal: 
  • To achieve Universal Household Electrification in the country by establishing last-mile connectivity and delivering power to all un-electrified rural families and poor urban households. 

• Salient Features:
  • The prospective beneficiary households for free connection would be identified using Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
    • Households not found eligible as per SECC data, would also be provided electricity connections on payment of Rs 500 recoverable in 10 instalments through electricity bills.
  • All DISCOMs including Private Sector DISCOMs, State Power Departments and RE Cooperative Societies are eligible for financial assistance.
  • Dedicated web portal for SAUBHAGYA has been developed to capture the information and progress of household electrification.

• Benefits: 

Image Courtesy: TOI

Progress 

•  Under the scheme, as on 31.03.2019, all households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. 
• Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, have later on expressed willingness to get electricity connections.
• All the States and Union Territories (UTs) have signed MoUs with the Central Government to ensure 24×7 power supply to all households, industrial & commercial consumers and adequate supply of power to agricultural consumers w.e.f. 1st April, 2019 onwards.

Conclusion

• While the set objectives of the scheme have been achieved, team SAUBHAGYA has continued its work of providing a 24×7 quality power supply to all.
• All states have been requested to launch special campaigns in their respective states to identify any left out un-electrified households and subsequently provide electricity connections to them. 
  • A dedicated toll-free helpline has also been launched for that purpose.

Source:TH