13,469 villages electrified up to 15th May 2017.

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal addressed the media on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) here today. The Minister said, “Every state in the country has joined Power for All agreement”. All the states have pledged to boost holistic development of entire village electrification process to provide 24x7 affordable and quality power to all which is planned under DDUGJY.

The Minister interacted with the regional media representatives from 12 State Capitals through video conferencing and informed them about latest achievements under the DDUGJY scheme in the respective States. Shri Goyal also launched the new dashboard for GARV application and booklet on rural electrification on the occasion.

Talking about the impact of good governance in Rural Electrification, Shri Goyal said, “The Government is working on the concept of 4S i.e. Skill, Speed, Scale and now Sewa to improve the lives of the rural populace as the prime priority. The Minister further added, “We have changed the rules of this game. Instead of counting 10% households in the village to complete electrification process, now the Government is focusing on providing power connections to each and every household of village, thus providing meaning to the concept of ‘Antyodaya’.

Shri Goyal said that, in line with the philosophy of Pandit DeenDayal Upadhyaya of ANTYODAYA (serving the last Man), on 20^th November 2014, Government of India had approved Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), an integrated scheme covering all aspects of rural power distribution viz., Feeder Segregation, System Strengthening, Metering. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address to the nation on 15^th August 2015 pledged to electrify all Un-electrified villages within 1000 days. Government of India therefore taken up Village Electrification on Mission mode targeting completion by May 2018.

Shri Goyal further added that, out of the 18,452 un-electrified census villages in the country, 13,469 villages have been electrified up to 15^th May, 2017. A comparison of Achievements and the Physical & Financial Progress under rural electrification scheme in 2013-14 & 2016-17 is given as follows: