Powerful challenge: 

Powerful challenge:

Context

• 2017 witnessed electrification of nearly 14,500 villages but the problem of power connection taints this achievement.

What are the challenges?

• The government’s record is sullied by the fact that reportedly more than a fourth of the households in the “electrified villages” do not have a power connection.

How to tackle the problem of reliable supply?

• Ensuring reliable supply requires improving the health of discoms.

The UDAY Scheme and the Saubhagya Scheme

• The UDAY scheme, launched in 2015, has made some headway in improving the finances of the state discoms.
• The losses registered by these companies have been more than 20 per cent less this year.
• Saubhagya allows them the scope to lower tariffs to people covered under the scheme.
• UDAY makes it obligatory on the states to pay for all the future losses of discoms.

What is the Saubhagya Scheme?

• The significance of the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or the “Saubhagya” scheme changes the metric for measuring progress in electrification from the village to the household-level.
• Beneficiaries for free electricity connections under the Saubhagya scheme would be identified using the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
• The scheme covers the Unelectrified households not covered under the SECC 2011. These households would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on a payment of Rs 500, which shall be recovered by discoms in 10 installments through electricity bills.
• Free or subsidized connections will take care of the last-mile connectivity.
• Government will ensure that Saubhagya ropes till in the panchayats and other village-level institutions.