Shillong, April 21: The Union Minister of State for Power, and New & Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) Shri R K Singh and the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Shri Conrad K Sagma today launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Saubhagya at Shillong. A total of 1.39 lakh households of Meghalaya will be connected with electricity under the Scheme.
Terming it a revolutionary scheme, the minister said that the scheme has made it possible for providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all un-electrified households of the country by December 2018. The minister said that it is the vision of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to provide electricity to every household of the country. And therefore the target for electrifying every household, which was initially 1st April, 2019, has now been fixed on December 2018, he added.
The minister further enumerated a list of targets the present government has laid down to ensure that the poorest of the poor can afford electricity in their homes at the shortest possible time. He said that the Union Government will connect all the remaining un-electrified villages, including those in Meghalaya, by 30th April, 2018. He further said that this corresponds to the assurance given by the Prime Minster of India that within 1000 days all the villages in India will electrified. The 1000 days deadline will be over on May 11, 2018.
Another target that the Union Government has set, he said, is that as all priority households of villages where 50 percent population comprise people from the backward section will get electricity latest by May 05, 2018. And in Meghalaya, 1176 villages with a total number of around 56,000 beneficiaries will get electricity under the Saubhagya Scheme within this deadline, he added. The minister was very hopeful that the country and Meghalaya in particular will be able to fulfill the targets within the stipulated time. The minister was very categorical when he said laying down focused targets for government schemes and fulfilling them unfailingly are essence for aiding the poor, needy and deprived sections of society and for overall development of the country.
Appreciating the efforts of the newly formed government of Meghalaya under the leadership of Shri Conrad K Sangma, the minister said that the new government is committed and working tirelessly for the all-round development of the state. “The first thing that the Chief Minister and the Power Minister of Meghalaya did was to draw a list of areas where Government of India should provide assistance and laid them before us. All these concerns were very well thought out and can make a very substantial and long lasting difference to the power situation in Meghalaya. That is how committed this new government is”, he added.
Chief Minister of Meghalaya Shri Conrad K Sangma in his speech lauded efforts of the Union Government in implementing Saubhagya scheme and ensured that Government of Meghalaya would make all efforts to achieve the goal of providing electricity to the un-electrified villages within the target date set by the Government of India. The Chief Minister also spoke on the need to explore alternative means of power generation including Hybrid Systems where Small Hydro Projects may be combined with solar energy or wind energy in order to boost power generation in the State. The Chief Minister on the occasion called for a concerted effort of all stakeholders including the Government, the officials and the public towards saving energy and stated that the Saubhagya Scheme will help change the economic condition of the country. The Chief Minister along with the Union Minister of State distributed sanction orders for free household electricity connections under the scheme to 30 selected beneficiaries on the occasion.
Power Minister of Meghalaya Shri James P K Sangma, Chairman, Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (MIDC) Shri Rupert M Momin, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, GoI Dr A K Verma, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya & Chairman cum MD, MeECL Shri P.S Thangkhiew, Additional Chief Secretary in- charge Power, Government of Meghalaya Shri M.S Rao, CMD, NEEPCO Shri AG West Kharkongor and Officials of the Central and State Government were also present in the meeting.
