NEW DELHI (INDIA): India’s Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Minister Piyush Goyal addressed the media on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) here today.
The Minister said, “Every state in the country has joined Power for All agreement”. All the states have pledged to boost holistic development of entire village electrification process to provide 24×7 affordable and quality power to all which is planned under DDUGJY.
The Minister interacted with the regional media representatives from 12 State Capitals through video conferencing and informed them about latest achievements under the DDUGJY scheme in the respective States. Shri Goyal also launched the new dashboard for GARV application and booklet on rural electrification on the occasion.
Talking about the impact of good governance in Rural Electrification, Goyal said, “The Government is working on the concept of 4S i.e. Skill, Speed, Scale and now Sewa to improve the lives of the rural populace as the prime priority.
The Minister further added, “We have changed the rules of this game. Instead of counting 10% households in the village to complete electrification process, now the Government is focusing on providing power connections to each and every household of village, thus providing meaning to the concept of ‘Antyodaya’.
Shri Goyal said that, in line with the philosophy of Pandit DeenDayal Upadhyaya of ANTYODAYA (serving the last Man), on 20th November 2014, Government of India had approved Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), an integrated scheme covering all aspects of rural power distribution viz., Feeder Segregation, System Strengthening, Metering. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address to the nation on 15th August 2015 pledged to electrify all Un-electrified villages within 1000 days. Government of India therefore taken up Village Electrification on Mission mode targeting completion by May 2018.
Goyal further added that, out of the 18,452 un-electrified census villages in the country, 13,469 villages have been electrified up to 15th May, 2017. A comparison of Achievements and the Physical & Financial Progress under rural electrification scheme in 2013-14 & 2016-17 is given as follows:families
| Parameters | 2013-14 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 Target |
| Electrification of un-electrified villages | 1,197 | 6,015 (5.02 times) | Balance un–electrified villages to be electrified by May 2018 |
| Intensive electrification of villages
|
14,956 | 63,330 (4.2 times) | 85,000 |
| Free Electricity Connections to BPL households*
|
9.62 | 22.42 (2.3 times) | 40 Lakh |
| Government of India Grant released to States**
|
Rs. 2938.52 Crores | Rs. 7965.87 Crores (2.7 times) | Rs. 4814 Crores |
*Free electricity connections to BPL Households provided to 256.81Lakh BPL families up to 30th April 2017, Release of highest ever grant in any FY of Rs 7965.87 Crores to States
Background Information
The remaining rural electrification works of the erstwhile scheme have been subsumed into DDUGJY. The scheme outlay is Rs 43,033 crores with Rs 33,453 crores grant from Government of India. The overall outlay, with the subsumed rural electrification works, is Rs. 75,893 crores including Grant of Rs. 63,027 crores from Government of India.
Under new DDUGJY, Government of India provides grant at the rate of 60% of project cost (85% for special category States). Further, additional grant at the rate of 15% grant is provided (5% for Special Category States) on fulfilment of the prescribed milestones. Under this scheme, the new projects with an outlay of Rs. 42,553.17 crores have been approved for 32 States/UTs including works of Feeder Separation (Rs 15572.99 crores), System Strengthening & Connecting Rural Households (Rs 19706.59 Crores), Metering (Rs 3874.48 Crores), Village Electrification (Rs 2792.57 Crores) and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (Rs 398.54 crores).
More than 350 Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas (GVA) deployed in the field to monitor the progress of village electrification works. GARV Mobile App (garv.gov.in) was developed for monitoring progress of electrification in 18,452 un-electrified villages, in line with milestones. GVAs update in the GARV App, field photographs, data and other information. On 20th December 2016, updated GARV App had been launched for monitoring Household electrification in all 5.97 Lakh Villages. Updated GARV has the special feature of SAMVAD – engaging the citizens for establishing transparency and accountability.
The scheme is expected to transform lifestyle of villagers and bring in overall socio-economic development in rural areas. Following are the key outcomes of the scheme:
· Increased productivity in agriculture
· Reducing drudgery for women
· Improvement in children education
· Connectivity to all villages and households
· Viable and reliable electricity services in rural areas
· Improvement in delivery of health & education services
· Improvement in access to communications (radio, telephone, television, mobile)
· Improvement in public safety through lighting
The scheme has complete flexibility for selecting scope of works as per local requirement/priority of States. The population criteria have been dispensed with and all Villages/hamlets without any population restriction are eligible under the scheme. States are to consult District Electricity Committee (DEC) while formulating DPRs and the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) proposals of Members of Parliament are necessarily to be covered in the scheme.
The scheme has other features like Mandatory E-tendering, compliance of Standard Bidding Document. Private Discoms and RE Cooperative Societies are also eligible under the scheme. The scheme is being reviewed by DISHA (District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee). Government of India is committed to transform the lives of rural populace and provide 24×7 Power for All (PFA).