Source:: Chanakyaiasacademy:: Deen-Dayal-Upadhyaya-Gram-Jyoti-Yojana

INTRODUCTION:

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is a Government of india scheme designed to provide continuous power supply to rural India. One of the major commitment of the Shri Narendra Modi government is to provide 24X7 uninterrupted quality electricity to all parts of the country. Yet missing infrastructure leaves large rural areas and many poor households behind. The conditions are aggravated by the fact that, to irrigate their fields, millions of farmers opt for pumping groundwater. Dwindling water tables and cheaper but ever more powerful pumps together with high energy subsidies contribute significantly to unsustainably rising electricity consumption. This not only adds to the fiscal burden of the state but results in load shedding that disrupts well-being and production.

Background:

The rural agricultural and non-Agriculture consumers (domestic and non-domestic load) of the country are generally serviced through the local distribution network. Many rural areas of the country face insufficient electricity supply, consequently the distribution utilities are forced to resort to load shedding, thus affecting the power supply to both Agriculture and non-Agriculture consumers.

• The demand of power in rural areas is increasing day by day due to changing consumer base, improving living standards for which augmentation of rural infrastructure needs to be regularly undertaken.
• The investment in the distribution network is low due to bad financial health of the distribution companies. Therefore in order to augment the reliability and quality of supply distribution network needs to be strengthened.
• To improve the commercial viability of power distribution, there is need for metering of all categories of the consumers.

Objectives:

• To provide electrification to all villages.
• Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers.
• Improvement of Sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and reliability of the supply.
• Metering to reduce the losses.

Salient Features:

• The existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) has been subsumed in the new scheme and the unspent amount of RGGVY will be carried forward to DDUGJY.
• All Discoms are eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.
• Rural Electrification Corporation Limited(REC) will be the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme.

Components:

• Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders facilitating judicious restoring of supply to agricultural & non-agriculture consumers in the rural areas; and
• Strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers.
• Rural electrification, as per CCEA approval dated 01.08.2013 for completion of the targets laid down under RGGVY for 12thand 13th Plans by carrying forward the approved outlay for RGGVY to DDUGJY.

Budgetary Support:

The full scheme entails an investment of Rs 43,033 crore which includes the requirement of budgetary support of Rs. 33,453 crorefrom GOI over the entire implementation period. All Discoms including private Discoms and State Power Departments are eligible forfinancial assistance under this Scheme. Discoms will prioritize strengthening of rural infrastructure work considering specific network requirement and will formulate Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the projects for coverage under the Scheme. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is the Nodal Agency for operationalization of this Scheme. It will furnish monthly progress reports on the implementation of the scheme indicating both financial and physical progress to Ministry of Power and Central Electricity Authority.

Monitoring Committee:

The Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Power) will approve the projects and also monitor implementation of the scheme. Suitable Tripartite Agreement will be executed between REC as the Nodal Agency on behalf of Ministry of Power,the State Government and the Discom to ensure implementation of the scheme in accordance with the guidelines prescribed under the scheme. Bipartite agreement will be executed in case of State Power departments.

Funding Mechanism:

Grant portion of the Scheme is 60% for other than special category States (up to 75% on achievement of prescribed milestones) and85% for special category States (up to 90% on achievement of prescribed milestones). The milestones for the additional grant are: timely completion of the scheme, reduction in AT&C losses as per trajectory and upfront release of subsidy by State govt. All North Eastern States including Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand are included in special category States.

Benefits from the scheme:

• All villages and households shall be electrified.
• Increase in agriculture yield.
• Business of Small and household enterprises shall grow resulting into new avenues for employment.
• Improvement in Health, Education, Banking (ATM) services.
• Improvement in accessibility to radio, telephone, television, internet and mobile etc.
• Betterment in social security due to availability of electricity.
• Accessibility of electricity to schools, panchayats, hospitals and police stations etc.
• Rural areas shall get increased opportunities for comprehensive development.

Recent Developments:

In the Union Budget 2016-17, Rs 8500 crore have been allocated to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and Integrated Power Development Schemes, with an aim to electrify about 12,597 villages in India by May, 2018. Till February 2016, 5855 villagesin India were electrified in 11 months. "253 villages were electrified across the country during February 8-14, 2016 under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna,".Out of the 253 villages, 111 are in Odisha, 81 in Assam, 40 in Jharkhand, 13 in Rajasthan, 4 inBihar, 3 in Madhya Pradesh and 1 in Uttar Pradesh.