26.9.17

PM launches Saubhagya


PM Narendra Modi said he will not relent in his “battle against corruption“ even as he sharpened his government's development and welfarist image by announcing a mega scheme to provide electricity connections to 4 crore families deprived of regular power.

He launched a Rs.16,000 crore scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (acronym Saubhagya meaning good fortune), that he said would deliver free power connections (not billing) by December, 2018. “Rs.16,000 crore will be spent to bring a monumental change in the lives of the poor,“ the PM said pointing out that people still lacked electricity over a century after the incandescent bulb was invented. Even 70 years after Independence, 4 crore out of 25 crore families did not have a connection, he added.

The scheme reflects the Modi government's focus on delivering on schemes like housing, power, loans and farm insurance to key sections of the electorate. Alongside electrification, the PM awas yojana has sanctioned more than 26 lakh houses for urban poor and more than 1.76 lakh units have been constructed while 11 lakh are being built. Another 2 lakh houses are complete under JNNURM.

As he has often done, Modi sought to explain that he has experienced the travails of the less well-off, doing without electricity as a student. He also said that all villages will be electrified by December this year beating the deadline of May 1, 2018.

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