The government’s new scheme to take electricity to all households in the country — Saubhagya — will work on project proposals cleared by an Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee headed by the Power Secretary.
In a frequently asked questions released on Wednesday, the Ministry of Power said: “Project proposals shall be prepared by the State discoms / power department and sanctioned by an Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee headed by Secretary (Power).”
The electrification works under the sanctioned projects shall be executed by respective Discoms/power department through turnkey contractors or departmentally or through other suitable agencies capable of doing this work as per norms, the statement added.
The government said Saubhagya is an extension of the rural and urban electrification programmes that were focused more on ensuring setting up transmission infrastructure for villages and cities. The new scheme, however, will emphasise bringing power to the doorstep.
According to the Ministry, there are villages and cities covered under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) where households are yet to be electrified.
An official statement said, “DDUGJY envisages creation of basic electricity infrastructure in villages / habitations, strengthening and augmentation of existing infrastructure, metering of existing feeders / distribution transformers / consumers to improve quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas. However, in villages which are electrified in past for a long period, many households do not have electricity connections for many reasons. Some of the really poor households do not have BPL cards but these households are not capable of paying applicable initial connection charges.”
“Similarly in urban areas, Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) provides for creation of necessary infrastructure to provide electricity access but some households are not yet connected mainly on account of their economic condition as they are not capable of paying the initial connection charges,” the statement added.
The new scheme has been launched to plug such gaps and comprehensively address the issues of entry barrier, last mile connectivity and release of electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural and urban areas.
The government also said the ₹16,320-crore cost of the Saubhagya scheme is over and above the investment being made under DDUGJY.
Cost of consumptionIn response to a query seeking clarification on whether the free electricity connection also includes free power for consumption, the government said, “There is no provision in the scheme to provide free power to any category of consumers. The cost of electricity consumption shall have to be paid by the respective consumers as per prevailing tariff of the Discom.”
In order to speed up the implementation of household electrification, gram panchayat / public institutions in rural areas shall also be authorised to collect application form, complete documentation and for distribution of bills, collection of revenue and other activities as applicable.