The ‘Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ (Saubhagya) scheme announced by the Prime Minister earlier this week is likely to benefit some 4.32 lakh households in Telangana including over 4.12 lakh in the rural areas.
Under the scheme, un-electrified households would be provided with free electricity connections based on the Socio-Economic and Caste Census-2011 (SECC) data. The households that are not covered under SECC would also be given electricity connections with the facility of paying the connectivity charges of ₹500 in 10 instalments along with their monthly energy consumption bills.
No free power
The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme, has already made it clear that there would be no free power supply under the scheme. According to SECC data, there are 4,12,725 rural households in Telangana without electricity connection and another 19,235 in urban areas.
According to the energy department officials, the Saubhagya scheme would benefit the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district the most followed by Warangal, Medak and Nalgonda districts, where the number of un-electrified households is high. Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Ranga Reddy districts have the least number of un-electrified households.
Guidelines awaited
“A detailed project report will be prepared based on the guidelines, once they are received from the Centre. The number of un-electrified households could change both in rural and urban areas even after electrification of some households after 2011 as many new households could have been added afterwards,” the energy department officials said adding that completing the process might not take much time as the Centre has already set December-end 2018 as the deadline.
The un-electrified households in remote and inaccessible areas under Saubhagya scheme would be given solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery banks. Such connections would also include five LED bulbs, one DC fan and one DC power plug with five-year repair and maintenance facility for the equipment given.