Saubhagya: This is how Modi govt's many 'power for all' schemes have fared

As govt launches the Rs 16,000-crore Saubhagya scheme for complete electrification of India by Dec 2018, we look at the many old schemes on this with many different price tags

Earlier, you had GARV, GARV-II, IPDS, DDUGJY, UDAY and UJALA. And now, SAUBHAGYA has joined the long list of schemes promising ‘power for all’. Right since the government under Narendra Modi took charge at the Centre in May 2014, energy access has been the clarion call.

In the first Union Budget that the Modi government presented in 2014, rural and urban electrification had seen a major thrust, along with a name change and allocation boost. Strict targets were part of these two schemes – Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

Of the unelectrified 18,000 villages, 14,483 are mentioned as electrified on the GARV dashboard, which captures real-time data for rural electrification. However, while the speed of progress in powering villages is laudable, household electrification data remain dismal. Of the 170 million households, 40 million remain to be fully electrified, show government data. Also, 24x7 power is still a far cry even for the electrified households.

So far, no clause in the rural electrification programme promises 24-hour power supply. Even SAUBHAGYA doesn’t promise to monitor the quantum or quality of power supply, despite the government claiming that India is a power-surplus country.

In this year’s budget, the allocations to IPDS and DDUGJY were the highest ever. Under IPDS, grant is given to states after they submit their proposal for urban power reforms. According to its website, the total grant from the Government of India to the scheme stands at Rs 16,019 crore. Of this, the total released grant is only Rs 3,728 crore – that when, at 60 per cent, budgetary support to IPDS is the highest for any Centre-sponsored programme....read more