Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asserted that his government was committed towards the welfare of all sections of the society with its new electricity scheme that would provide free electric supply to below poverty line (BPL) households.
The scheme is intended to improve power access in the region without following any discriminatory practice on the basis of caste, community or colour.
“We are striving to provide electrical connections to all households in a bipartisan manner and treat everybody on an equal footing,” said Yogi after the launch. He also inaugurated power sub-station projects worth Rs 580 crore.
Taking a pro-development stance, the CM said the energy sector is the driving force behind the state’s economy. It is the backbone of all economic activities in the region, he added while underlining the importance of the sector.
Further, he claimed that his government had electrified over 18,500 hamlets in UP after coming to power on March 19.
“In the previous state regimes, people travelling by air could easily trace the rural territory of UP due to its pitch darkness at nights. But, the situation has changed after we came to power and now the villages are also getting electricity for 18 hours,” he claimed.
Charging the previous Akhilesh Yadav government for failing to deliver on the energy front, Yogi said the erstwhile regime had signed a number of power agreements, which would have caused a financial loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer.
“When we came to power, we scrapped all these pacts. But, we have still been able to provide ample power to consumers by better management, planning and the weed out of corruption,” he added.
Further, Yogi announced that certain areas, where the power line losses fell below 10 per cent, would get 24-hour power supply.
“The current level of line losses in the state is over 20 percent, which eats away vital public resources towards making up for the loss and thus deprives people of their right over access to electricity.”
Meanwhile, he exhorted BPL families to install power meters in their premises saying that the bill generated would be less than the monthly charge they incur on their phones “We are buying costly power at the rate of Rs 7.50 per unit, but supplying it to poor households at about Rs 2 per unit, so that all families have access to power.”
An estimated 6 million households- BPL and other poor families- are expected to get power connections in the state.
Earlier, the Yogi government had signed the ‘Power for All’ document with the Centre to provide 24×7 electricity supply to all households.
State power utility UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) is saddled with accumulated losses of about Rs 21,000 crore and the power tariff hike has been the easiest escape route for the power distribution companies (discom) to make up for the losses.
Hike in power tariffs is, however, unlikely.
