The Centre’s ambitious household electrification scheme Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (PM Saubhagya) has lapsed, but its target of 100 per cent electrification nationwide is yet to be achieved.
Going by Power Ministry estimates, over 1.5 lakh homes across the the country are yet to be given electricity connection. This despite the Centre shifting the goalposts.
The scheme was launched in September 2017 with a target to electrify all households by December 2018. This target was moved forward to March 31, 2019, and eventually the Centre declared that all ‘willing’ homes have been provided with electricity connections.
“The Rajasthan government had earlier updated the Saubhagya portal saying all willing households in the State stood electrified as on March 31, 2019. However, the State has now informed through a letter that 1.56 lakh households are un-electrified and are willing to take electric connections,” a Power Ministry official said.
“Another 24,000 homes in Chhattisgarh are yet to be provided with electricity connections. This is because these villages lie in regions hit by Left-wing extremism, and our teams have not been able to get access to them. There are homes in Uttar Pradesh, too, that now want to be connected with regular electricity supplies,” the official added.
But these remaining homes will not be given connections under Saubhagya, as the scheme has no allocation in the latest Budget. These connections will be funded through the Integrated Power Development Scheme (urban) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (rural), older programmes that have once again been given an impetus in the Budget, according to officials in the know.