Provision of quality electricity supply needs to be integrated with Saubhagya yojana for better socio-economic development of the country. Examine (200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
· It is highly likely that the Central government declares that all houses in India have electricity connections.
· As per the latest reports on the Saubhagya website, only around 20,000 households in Chhattisgarh remain to be connected.
· This is just a good beginning, but reliable power supply is crucial.
Challenges in providing quality electricity supply
· Supply is managed by cash-strapped distribution companies which have no financial incentive to supply to the rural poor.
· Metering, billing and payment complaints, inordinate delays in issuing bills, which small consumers find tough to pay for newly connected households, thus leading to disconnection.
· Half the households experience eight hours of power cut in a day and nearly half the rural enterprises use non-grid supply options ( Power outages)
· The nationwide village survey by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2017, indicates that only half the villages get more than 12 hours of supply.
· Agriculture gets only seven to eight hours of supply in most States, mostly during the night, with frequent interruptions.
For better socio-economic development
· There is a need to track post connection parameters like issue of first bill, hours of supply, distribution transformer failure rate and growth of non-domestic consumer connections.
· The Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), which is presently urban focussed, should be extended to rural areas.
· Power from stranded generation capacity, depreciated plants and unutilised capacity can be provided at concessional rates to distribution companies for reliable supply in designated rural areas.
· State distribution companies could improve metering and billing and deploy bill payment centres with support from panchayat offices, post offices or health centres. Complaint procedures can be simplified through mobile applications and public hearings.
· Distribution companies should be financially penalised by the regulatory commissions for poor quality of supply.
· For community facilities like health centres where reliable supply is crucial, schemes to deploy kilowatt size solar plants with battery backup could be planned.
· Technology-led initiatives like prepaid meters, smart meters and direct benefit transfer should be attempted as pilot projects before scaling up.
@Pallavi 6 years
Please review my answer.
IAS Parliament 6 years
Try to discuss the challenges present in
providing quality electric supply and suggestions for continuous supply of
electricity for socio-economic development. Keep Writing.
Raj 6 years
Kindly Review. Thanks!!
IAS Parliament 6 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
Raj 6 years
Arjun pandian 6 years
Review this!
IAS Parliament 6 years
Try to discuss the challenges present in
providing quality electric supply. Keep Writing.
AP 6 years
Answer.
IAS Parliament 6 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
