Lok Sabha Question No. 91 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-02
Subject: Saubhagya Yojana
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Hanuman Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.91

## ANSWERED ON 02.02.2023

## SAUBHAGYA YOJANA

- †91.   SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government of Rajasthan has sought approval of the works done under the  Saubhagya  Yojana  by  extending  the  period  of  completion  of  work  under  the  said scheme;
- (b) if so, the details of the action taken by the Government till now;
- (c) whether the Government  proposes to  provide  relief  by  extending  the  completion period of the said scheme till the end of this year keeping in view the geographical conditions of Rajasthan; and
- (d) if so, the time line for the same and if not, the reasons therefor?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

(a) to (d) :   This Ministry had received a letter dated 3 rd  March, 2022 from Government of

Rajasthan, wherein it was requested to extend the SAUBHAGYA Scheme till 31.12.2022.

The  Government  of  India  launched  Pradhan  Mantri  Sahaj  Bijli  Har  Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective of achieving universal household electrification, by providing electricity connections to all unelectrified households in rural areas  and  all  poor  households  in  urban  areas  in  the  country.  Under  the  aegis  of Saubhagya,  as  on  31.03.2019,  all  households  were  reported  electrified  by  the  States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremists (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier but later expressed willingness to  get  electricity  connection.  This  was  also  sanctioned.  All  these  seven  States  had reported  100%  households'  electrification  as  on  31.03.2021.  A  total  of  2.817  crore households were electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up to 31.03.2021.  Thereafter, some States had reported that 11.84 lakh households remained

to  be  electrified,  against  which  States  reported  that  4.43  lakh  households  have  been electrified. A total of 2.86 crore households were electrified under the aegis of Saubhagya including  additional  households  in  two  tranches  that  were  unwilling  for  electrification earlier but became willing later. The scheme stands closed as on 31.03.2022.

While fresh arising of new  households  is a continuous process and electrification  of  such  households  is  expected  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  Distribution Utilities, the Government of India stands committed to help the States to electrify all the households  which  existed  when  Saubhagya  was  sanctioned.  In  this  respect,  the Government  of  India  recently  issued  guidelines  for  their electrification  under  the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and the States have been advised to pose their DPRs to the Ministry of Power in this regard.

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