Universal access to electricity

Every single household in the country has an electricity connection and an uninterrupted power supply is critical for ensuring inclusive growth. The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) scheme for rural electrification and the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) for providing electricity connections to all households in both rural and urban areas - are two flagship schemes articulated by the Central Government to achieve this goal. A significant increase in the number of electrified households in Assam under these two schemes has changed lives for the better for the beneficiary households. The study hours have increased due to the availability of power supply in the evening or at night, monthly expenditure incurred on operating the generator sets, diesel pumps have reduced due to comparably low electricity charges, the security at night has improved with the availability of power reducing possibilities of theft of livestock, household goods, are some of the benefits listed in an audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The CAG report, however, has brought to light critical gaps in the implementation of the schemes that need to be bridged to achieve the optimal achievement of the objectives. The report highlights that there were 2,339 unelectrified villages and 24,056 partially electrified villages in the State as on 31 December 2014 (before the launch of the DDUGJY scheme), while the number of un-electrified households in the State as on October 10, 2017, before the launch of the SAUBHAGYA scheme was 24,10,348 (46.45% of the total households). The implementation of the scheme has led to an increase in the number of households having electricity connection to 45,59,833 (87.88 per cent of total households) by March this year. However, the CAG investigation found that the devil is in the details. The CAG authorities alleged that the Assam Power DistributionCompany Limited (APDCL) which implemented both the schemes in the state, failed to achieve the DDUGJY objective of optimum rostering of power between agricultural and non-agricultural consumers due to no segregation of agricultural feeders. The DDUGJY scheme envisaged separating agricultural and non-agricultural feeders so that it would be possible to provide increased hours of power supply to non-agricultural consumers and assured power supply to agricultural consumers. The APDCL authorities in their reply to audit objections argued that Assam being an agricultural state, most of the feeders except town feeders feed power to the agricultural areas in the state but the CAG authorities provided a counterargument that feeders feeding power to agricultural areas also cater to the needs of domestic, commercial, industrial consumers which are non-agricultural. Strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering at distribution transformers, feeders and consumers' ends are also included in the objectives of the scheme achieving which is crucial to enhance access to quality power supply for rural households. Apart from providing last mile connectivity to all unelectrified households, the SAUBHAGYA scheme envisages providing Solar Photovoltaic (SPV)-based standalone system for unelectrified households located in remote and inaccessible villages/habitations, where grid extension is not feasible or cost-effective. A huge advantage for Assam in the implementation of the schemes is that 85 per cent of funding is provided by the Central government as a grant. The CAG inspection found anomalies, besides financial issues, in the installation of standalone SPV systems in 346 villages such as the maintenance of the systems being a major issue, systems in some villages not working due to defects in battery/charge controller/solar panels causing power failure, non-availability of technicians of the agency which was awarded the installation work. "Monitoring mechanism for ensuring quality though in place, could not keep pace with the progress of works and resultantly, there were delays in exercising significant and appropriate checks making the monitoring process largely ineffective. Further, there was lack of monitoring on the part of the SLSC (State Level Standing Committee) to sort out issues causing delay incompletion of projects," states the report. The APDCL and the State government acting on the recommendations made by the CAG authorities in the report can help necessary course corrections for smooth implementation of the two schemes. The recommendations include chalking out a necessary plan to take up feeder segregation works for optimum rostering of power supply between agriculture and non-agricultural feeders; strictly following the guidelines and instructions relating to procurement, adhering to prescribed execution to achieve maximum benefits from the schemes and strengthening the monitoring mechanism at the top level to ensure timely execution of quality works. Universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030 is one of the major Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The DDUGJY and SAUBHAGYA being the two flagship schemes for universal access to electricity in the country, the APDCL ensuring smooth and anomaly-free execution of the two schemes in the state is crucial for the country to achieve the SDG goal.