‘Saubhagya’ For Villages, ‘Durbhagya’ For DISCOMs: UP Still Faces 34 Lakh Illegal Electricity Connections

Even as the deadline for Saubhagya Yojana approaches, Uttar Pradesh has 3.4 million households with illegal electricity connections, Mint has reported. The report claims that the state’s power corporation will be regularising the illegal connections.

“UP is connecting close to 12 million customers into the utility records through Saubhagya. It was based on a rigorous foot survey done by the utility and turnkey contractors. About 72 per cent will be drawn from un-electrified households and remaining will be formalising illegal connections,” Partner (advisory, power and utilities), Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) India Sambitosh Mohapatra has said. PwC is the programme manager for implementing the scheme in UP.

A senior government official, involved in the exercise confirmed that households were drawing electricity without a meter. However, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd’s managing director Aparna Upadhyay reportedly did not respond to Mint’s calls.

Close to one lakh homes are getting electricity connections every day. So far, 2.1 crore connections have been achieved under the scheme. All willing households are charged Rs 500 for the connection. The respective distribution company will recover the amount in 10 equal instalments. The Rs 16,320-crore Saubhagya scheme is also expected to boost India’s electricity demand.