Patna: All 39,073 villages and 1,06,249 âtolasâ (sub-unit in villages) of Bihar are now electrified.
Making this declaration at an energy departmentâs event here, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on May 4 said all 26 lakh households in Bihar would be provided free electricity connection by end of coming December.
Lauding the energy department for achieving the target of electrifying all âtolasâ ahead of the stipulated deadline, CM also said that the centre adopted âSaubhagyaâ scheme from Bihar model of âHar Ghar Bijali Lagataarâ, a major component of the state governmentâs âSaat Nischayâ (seven resolves) program which promises free electricity connection to each households across the state.
Nitish Kumar had launched the Bihar model of free electricity connection program at an event on November 15, 2016.
âAfter we launched our âHar Ghar Bijali Lagataarâ program and started providing free electricity connection in Bihar, the stateâs energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav discussed about it at a conference of the state energy ministers in Delhi. After learning about the Bihar model, the former union power minister Piyush Goyal not only appreciated our model but also sent a team of energy officials from many states to study the Bihar model,â Nitish said while addressing energy departmentâs event at the Vidyut Bhawan premises here.
CM said while patting Bihar for its model, Goyal had then said the same should be implemented by all states. Later the Centre came out with Saubhagya scheme on the similar line of Bihar model.
The Saubhagya scheme was launched by PM Narendra Modi on September 25, 2017, more than 10 months after Nitish launched âHar Ghar Bijali Lagataarâ scheme.
While the centreâs Saubhagya scheme promises to provide free electricity connection to over 4 crore households by December 2018, Bihar governmentâs âHar Ghar Bijali Lagataarâ has resolved to provide free electricity connection to all 26 lakh households of the state by the same period.
âWe have already provided free electricity connections to more than 8 lakh households in the state, another 6 lakh households would be provided by coming June and all 26 lakh by end of coming December,â CM said.
âBut we are happy that the Centre has adopted out scheme. Under the Saubhagya scheme, 60% of cost would be borne by the Centre. Now, when the centre will share 60% cost, we would utilize the saved money on other power schemes.
The CM also laid foundation stones and inaugurated different power schemes worth over Rs 3650.83 crore on this occasion. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav also addressed the event.
