Kalam launches Atal Jyoti power scheme in Bhopal

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today launched the Madhya Pradesh government's Atal Jyoti Abhiyan aimed at providing round-the-clock quality power supply in the district.
Launching the scheme, which is already in force in six other districts, the former President said, "I am happy to note the scheme has been successfully implemented in six districts and it will be extended to all the districts of the state by May."
The scheme is already operational in Jabalpur, Mandla, Shahdol, Umaria, Anooppur and Burhanpur districts of the state.
Stating that sustainable development is the need of the hour, Kalam said, "I am very happy to see Madhya Pradesh reach the target of providing power to its people 24 hours for non-farming and 12 hours for the agriculture sector. I am sure, as planned by 2014, everyone in the state will be empowered with electricity."

Emphasising the need to conserve power for meeting future requirements, Kalam said traditionally, the human society has seen four levels of fuels and they are wood, oil and petroleum products, nuclear energy and non-conventional energy sources like solar and wind.
Now a new concept of the fifth fuel has recently emerged, which is not a hardware fuel in the conventional sense. It refers to energy efficiency, he said.

Various reports suggest that building energy efficiency is perhaps the most economically feasible and convenient way to generate energy by actually saving it, Kalam said.
More than any form of technology, what is required is social awareness and incentives for the industries and homes to save on energy consumption, he added.

In distribution of power, the losses are very high in many states. There is also an immense scope for energy efficiency at household levels ranging from cooking fuels to smart buildings which can save up to 50 per cent of the energy consumption.
The fifth fuel may lead to availability of additional capacity for power consumers of villages that have not been fully electrified, Kalam said.
Addressing the function, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted various steps taken by his government to generate more power.
He claimed that this year Madhya Pradesh has not raised electricity rates and if everything goes as planned, then it may come down by five per cent next year.