Union power minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that under the Centre’s ambitious Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Rajasthan government has achieved complete rural electrification, except a small village in Udaipur named Dheeya.
A village is called electrified if public places and 10 percent of its households are endowed with electricity and are lit up.
Goyal also said that 22 lakh rural households in Rajasthan are still lacking power connection.
“Nearly, 22 lakh households in rural areas are yet to get electricity supply, the work for which will get completed within the coming 18 months,” Goyal said.
“There has to be a collective effort to achieve 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply and cheap power. If people pay their bills in time and do not indulge in power theft, then it can be achieved,” he said.
As per the Union power ministry data, 426 of the 495 villages in the state have been electrified under the Centre run Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).
A total of 68 villages are still unelectrified. There are no dwellers in this remaining, 68 villages are inhabited whereas work in one village is pending, it said.
21,78,845 out of the total 90,46,216 households in the state are yet to be electrified under the scheme. As many as 69,058 villages will now be endowed with electricity.
Union Minister Goyal also chided the last government for leaving behind an indecorous treasury and also blamed the party for “utter mismanagement” of state discoms.
Goyal added that BJP had rubbed off the DISCOM losses. Not long ago, CM Raje had taken charge of repaying the DISCOMS. She also gifted respite to all the farmers who were burdened with higher power tariffs to compensate.
“When the BJP came to power in Rajasthan in 2013, the Discoms were suffering Rs 15,000 crore losses yearly,” Goyal informed.
