CM urges officials to work harder to meet 'Saubhagya' target

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today urged the Assam Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (APDCL) to work on war-footing to achieve the "Saubhagya" scheme target of providing power connection to 23 lakh families in rural areas within this year.

The Assam government had on January 23 launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana known as 'Saubhagya' with an aim to provide electricity connection to every household of the state within December 31 this year.

"The APDCL must strive to provide power connections to 13,000 families daily in the next five months to cover the remaining 19.5 lakh families under Saubhagya," Sonowal said.

He was speaking at an interaction programme with the Managing Director and Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) of the APDCL here.

Till now, 3.5 lakh families have been provided power connection in the state under the scheme, he said.

"APDCL officials must work towards fulfilling the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring electricity to every family of the country," he said.

Sonowal urged the officials to stay close to the people so that they are encouraged to feel the properties of the APDCL as their own and cooperate in reducing power theft.

He also directed APDCL to remove all bamboo and wooden poles for minimising accidents.

Minister of State for Power Tapan Kumar Gogoi said on the occasion that the initiative of the state government to provide four LED bulbs to 52 lakh families would start within this month and these would also be provided to Anganwadi Centres, hospitals, schools etc.