TAG: GS-2: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: Recently, India has achieved its long-pending goal of 100% electrification of its villages.
About the Rural Electrification in India:
- Rural electrification is considered to be the backbone of the rural economy.
- The electricity generation capacity in India is the fifth largest in the world.
- India is the sixth largest consumer of electricity and accounts for 3.4 percent of the global energy
National Rural Electrification Policy, 2006
- State government should, within 6 months, prepare and notify a rural electrification plan which should map and detail the electrification delivery mechanism. The plan may be linked to and integrated with district development plans. The plan should also be intimated to the appropriate commission.
- Goals include provision of access to electricity to all households by the year 2009, quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates, and minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unit/household/day as a merit good by year 2012.
- For villages/habitations where grid connectivity would not be feasible or not cost effective, off-grid solutionsbased on stand-alone systems may be taken up for supply of electricity. Where these also are not feasible and if only alternative is to use isolated lighting technologies like solar photovoltaic, these may be adopted. However, such remote villages may not be designated as electrified.
- The state government should set up a committee at the district level within 3 months, under the chairmanship of chairperson of the Zilla Panchayat and with representations from district level agencies, consumer associations, and important stakeholders with adequate representation of women.
- Gram panchayat shall issue the first certificate at the time of the village becoming eligible for declaration as electrified. Subsequently, the Gram Panchayat shall certify and confirm the electrified status of the village as on 31st March each year.
- Panchayat Raj institutions would have a supervisory / advisory role.
- The district committee would coordinate and review the extension of electrification in the district and consumer satisfaction, etc.
- Institutional arrangements for backup services and technical support to systems based on non-conventional sources of energy will have to be created by the state government.
What is the scenario of rural electrification:
- The definition of electrification was limited to the provision of basic infrastructure such as transformers, of electricity in public places like schools and panchayats, and electrification of at least 10% households in the village.
- Recently Union government announced it has achieved 100% rural electrification.
- India continues to harbour energy poverty with 31 million rural households and about five million urban households still unconnected to the electricity grid.
- A significant portion of connected rural households are yet to get adequate quantity and
Issues with Debt-ridden Discoms and Transmission Losses
- Currently, most areas get electricity through distribution companies or discoms.
- Most states have primarily one discom supplying electricity to the entire state.
- As a result, the distance from the nearest transmission grid increases by a lot for remote villages in rural areas, massively increasing discoms’ cost of supply.
- Discoms lose about Rs 4 per unit supplied to rural areas.
Government initiative/programme for Rural Electrification:
- Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY):
- Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya”
Way forward
- Access to electricity is a cornerstone to the development of and essential for better quality of life for rural India. Government needs to outline a holistic approachto Rural Electrification.
- Use information technology to monitor metering at feeder and distribution transformer levels to allow proper auditing of power supply.
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