Shillong, Apr 20: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy , R K Singh and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sagma launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) here on Friday Shillong.

Terming it a revolutionary scheme, the Union Minister said that the scheme has made it possible for providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all un-electrified households of the country by December 31, 2018.

The minister said that it is the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide electricity to every household of the country and informed that the target for electrifying every household, which was initially 1st April, 2019, has now been fixed on December 31, 2018.

The minister further enumerated a list of sub-targets put by the present government to ensure that the poorest of the poor can afford electricity in their homes at the shortest possible time.

He said that the Union government will connect all remaining un-electrified villages, including 14 villages in Meghalaya by 30th April, 2018.

Singh said that the assurance given by the Prime Minster of India that within 1000 days all the villages in India will electrified will get over on May 11, 2018.

Another target that the Union government has set is, all priority households of villages where 50 percent population comprise people from the backward section will get electricity latest by May 5, 2018.

In Meghalaya, a total of around 56,000 beneficiaries will get electricity under the Saubhagya Scheme within this deadline.

The minister was hopeful that the country and Meghalaya in particular will be able to fulfill the targets within the stipulated time and said that laying down focused targets for government schemes and fulfilling them unfailingly are essence for aiding the poor, needy and deprived sections of society and for overall development of the country.

Appreciating efforts put in by the newly formed government in Meghalaya under the leadership of Conrad K Sangma, the Union minister said that the new government is committed and working tirelessly for the all-round development of the state.

“The first thing that the Chief Minister and the Power Minister of Meghalaya did was to draw a list of areas where the Government of India should provide assistance and laid them before us. All these concerns were very well thought out and can make a very substantial and long lasting difference to the power situation in Meghalaya. That is how committed this new government is”, Singh added.

The Chief Minister in his speech lauded the efforts of the Union government in implementing Saubhagya scheme and ensured that the State government would make all efforts to achieve the goal of providing electricity to un-electrified villages within the target date.

The Chief Minister also spoke on the need to explore alternative means of power generation including Hybrid Systems where Small Hydro Projects may be combined with solar energy or wind energy in order to boost power generation in the State.

The Chief Minister called for a concerted effort of all stakeholders including the government, officials and the public towards saving energy and stated that the Saubhagya scheme will help change the economic condition of the country.

The Chief Minister along with the Union Minister of State distributed sanction orders for free household electricity connections under the scheme to 30 selected beneficiaries on the occasion.

Power Minister James P.K Sangma, Chairman, Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (MIDC), Rupert M. Momin, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Power secretary Dr A K Verma, Meghalaya Additional Chief Secretary & Chairman cum MD, MeECL P.S Thangkhiew, Additional Chief Secretary in- charge Power, M.S Rao, NEEPCO CMD AG West Kharkongor and Officials of the Central and State governments were also present.