Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Thursday called for a concrete timeline and adherence to it through a well-coordinated approach by all stakeholders to successfully complete implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya - on time in the state.
The Saubhagya scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 25, 2017, to provide free electricity connections to all households in rural and urban areas. There are around 4 crore un-electrified households in the country and they are targeted for providing electricity connections by December.
In a meeting with the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), which has been designated as the nodal agency for Saubhagya, Khandu said in order to meet the December deadline, REC needs to work in tandem with the state power department and various works should be executed concurrently. He said households should not only be equipped and wired but also be "lit up" for the scheme to be a complete success.
The meeting was attended by power minister Tamiyo Taga, chief secretary Satya Gopal, finance commissioner Kaling Tayeng, power commissioner G.S. Meena, REC officials headed by chairman and managing director P.V. Ramesh, state power chief engineers and superintendent engineers.
While reminding that the Prime Minister is concerned about successful implementation of the scheme, Khandu requested the REC officials to assist the state government as the geographical and climatic conditions of the state can prove major hurdles in completion of field projects on time. He assured that the state will mobilise all resources available to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households in the state by December 31.
The scheme will provide electrification to 44,806 households across the state, which includes 14,113 connections to BPL households. While 39,376 will be on-grid connections, 5,430 will be off-grid ones.
Referring to the aspirational district scheme under the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (phase II) of the Centre, which aspires to electrify Namsai, the selected district under the scheme, by August 15, Khandu urged the REC to complete wiring in all households left by July-end so that the entire district is electrified as scheduled.
