Even as the central government aims to touch 100% household electrification under the Saubhagya scheme, Meghalaya appears to be far away from the finish line.
Major anomalies in power department came to light after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Meghalaya Assembly summoned the state electricity department. It was found that more than 1,400 villages in the state are yet to be fully electrified.
“Under this Saubhagya scheme, all households should be fully electrified but in Meghalaya, although Rs 657 crore is involved to make the state electrified, the result has not been achieved," said PAC member Zenith Sangma.
"Meghalaya has been divided under two package — one is Khasi Jaintia and Ribhoi region under which there are 2,211 villages to be electrified. Of this right now, only 1,546 villages have been electrified,” Sangma said, adding, “Similarly, the Garo Hills falls under package B. Here, 2,748 villages are to be electrified, but only 1,923 villages are fully electrified.”
Meghalaya has close to 6,000 villages, in which rural electrification has started in 4,959 villages as part of the Saubhagya scheme. “However, only 3,469 villages have been electrified," he said.
The central scheme, launched in September 2017, aims to achieve the goal of universal household electrification in the country. It envisages providing last-mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining households in rural as well as urban areas.