ITANAGAR, July 12 - 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 ambitious 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 (both APL and BPL families) in rural and urban areas. There are around four crore un-electrified households in the country and they are targeted for providing electricity connections by December 2018.
In a meeting with Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) � which has been designated as the nodal agency for Saubhagya � here this morning, Khandu asserted that in order to meet the December 2018 deadline, REC needed to work in tandem with State Power department and works should be executed concurrently. He also insisted that the households should not only be equipped and wired but also be �lighted up� for the scheme to be a complete success.
The meeting was also attended by Power Minister Tamiyo Taga, Chief Secretary Satya Gopal, Finance Commissioner Kaling Tayeng, Power Commissioner GS Meena, REC officials headed by Chairman and Managing Director Dr PV Ramesh and others.
Khandu assured that the State Government will mobilise all resources available to achieve 100 per cent electrification of all households in the State by the deadline.
The scheme in Arunachal Pradesh will provide electrification to 44,806 un-electrified 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.
Referring to the Aspirational district scheme under Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (Phase II) of the Centre, which aspires to electrify Namsai, the selected district under the scheme, by August 15, 2018, Khandu urged REC to complete wiring in all left-over households by July-end so that the entire district is electrified as scheduled.
Dr Ramesh assured the State Government of complete cooperation while informing that REC has established an office at Itanagar for the sole purpose of implementing the scheme on time.
