Power play

The Rs 16,320-crore Saubhagya scheme unveiled by PM Modi entails power connection to all households by the end of 2018

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has claimed that the “Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana” (Saubhagya) scheme launched by the central government earlier this week was inspired by Bihar’s model of providing electricity to all households. 

The Rs 16,320-crore Saubhagya scheme unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday entails power connection to all households by the end of 2018. Bihar’s Har Ghar Bijli scheme, part of the seven resolves Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced in 2015, had also set a target of December 2018. 

The Bihar scheme had been praised by the central government, and officials from the two sets of government reportedly discussed details of the scheme during the national workshop on universal household electrification held in Patna on August 8.