On Monday Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ‘Saubhagya’, the scheme for easy electricity to every household. At the launch of the scheme, Modi announced that the government will be providing free electricity connections to four crore rural homes so that the poor can have access to power.
Modi said, this Yojana will cost Rs 16,000 crore to the government which will not be passed on to the poor. He said the connections will be delivered at the doors of the rural poor for which they would not have to go after the government officials.
He also inaugurated the Deendayal Urja Bhawan on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya during the programme in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and RK Singh.
The total purview of the Saubhagya Yojana is pegged at Rs 16,320 crore and it will be funded largely by the government at the Centre. The Yojana will include access to electricity to all willing households, substitution to kerosene, improvement in educational and health services, improvement in communication and public safety. The scheme will also bring in increased job opportunities for youth and better quality of life, especially for women in daily chores.
Modi also added that the staggering amount of Rs. 16,000 crore will be spent to bring a monumental change in the lives of the poor. Adding that 3,000 villages remain unelectrified from 18,000 villages that were without power three years back, Prime Minister Modi also added that India is moving towards becoming electricity surplus from the deficit.
