Governance

100% ELECTRIFIED, But still in the dark

On April 28, when Leisang, a tiny hamlet in Manipur, was connected to the grid, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that it would be "remembered as a historic day in the development journey of India" as India has achieved 100 per cent electrification. What he forgot to mention is the fact that there are more than 32 million households in the country that are yet to be electrified. They are still in the dark. We have certainly not achieved universal access to energy, but how far are we from it? As per data available on the official website of Saubhagya Yojna, on an average 22,300 households are electrified per day. It means, between May 2018 and December 2019, the government has to electrify 64,582 households every day.

 
Published: Monday 21 May 2018

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