What is Saubhagya Scheme ?
Our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has flagged off a scheme The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Har Ghar Yojana, shortened into Saubhagya Scheme with the motive of providing electricity to every household in India. The original completion date of March 2019 has been advanced to December 2018. Still Now only 3.21 crore households are electrified in India. The scheme covers both urban and rural households and a free electricity connection provided to below poverty line (BPL) households, while others have to pay Rs 500 for the same.
The connection amount will be recovered by the power Distributor Company in 10 easy installments along with the electricity bills.
The total cost of the Saubhagya Scheme is about to Rs 16,320 Crore, in which 60% is funded by the Centre, 30% by bank loans and remaining 10% by State governments. Of the total outlay, a chunk of Rs 14,025 crore is proposed for rural areas.
Till now, the Saubhagya scheme has already completed 59 Lakh households’ electrification. And expected to reach the remaining 3.21 crore household by the end of the year.
The scheme visualizes electricity connection for each household by drawing a service cable from the nearest electricity pole to the home, installing an energy meter, and wiring for a single light point with an LED bulb and a mobile charging points.
In case a pole is not available, a new one is erected with a conductor and associated accessories. For remote and inaccessible areas, electricity is provided through solar panels and five LED lights, one DC fan and one DC power plug can be used. Repair and maintenance for five years is also part of the scheme.
If this scheme is implemented successfully, Saubhagya Scheme can improve education, fuel economic activity and provide more job opportunity across villages.
