Power to the people — that is Modi’s 24 x 7 mantra in this winter of discontent

Narendra Modi

Asha Pandey from Uttar Pradesh, married into Gujarat, prefers not to visit her relatives in UP in summers because of the power cuts in the state. While she and her family get uninterrupted power supply in Gujarat, in UP it’s a totally different stor0y — and Asha is not the only one to tell it. Many people from other states of India staying in Gujarat prefer spending the summers there rather than in their home states when the mercury shoots up. Till Narendra Modi took over as Gujarat’s chief minister in 2001 the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) had been a loss-making entity. In 2000-01 the GEB had recorded a loss of Rs. 2,246 crore.

When Modi took the helm his topmost priority was to improve power supply in the state as it was the key to development. As a part of electricity reforms the GEB was reorganised into seven companies in 2005: the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd for power trading, co-ordination and monitoring; the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd as power generating company; the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd (GETCO) as transmission company; and distribution companies Madhya Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd (MGVCL), the Dakshin Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd (DGVCL); the Uttar Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd (UGVCL); and the Paschim Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd ( PGVCL) The Narendra Modi government made sure there were no leakages in distribution and strict laws to control power theft were also introduced. It was not that his government did not face opposition while carrying out these reforms.

Initially some farmers were against installation of metres, but it went ahead with the plan benefiting them across the state. The credit for Gujarat becoming a power surplus state from a power deficit state goes to the Gujarat government’s flagship program Jyoti Gram Yojna. Thanks to it the state which lost Rs 2,246 crore in 2001 made a Mumbai: BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressing the audience at Maha Garjana rally in Mumbai on Sunday. profit of Rs 533 crores in 2010-11. The objective of the yojna was to provide reliable, quality and 24×7 power supply to all 18,000 villages of Gujarat . Before it was implemented a common rural feeder was responsible for power supply to households, businesses, industries and agriculture, which could ensure just 10-12 hours of supply and 3-4 hours of power cuts. The yojna corrected this fault by introducing separate feeders for agriculture and domestic use.

Under the Jyoti Gram Yojna 8-10 hours of uninterrupted electricity is supplied for agricultural use while 24 hour- electricity is provided for domestic use. The separate feeders of 440 volt for agriculture use and 229 volt for domestic is metered and charged. Initially farmers were reluctant to pay as electricity was free for agricultural use before 2001, but as they started receiving uninterrupted, reliable power supply they now don’t mind paying for it. One study by the IRMA (Anand) found that the yojna’s migration from rural areas to urban had reduced to 33% and the time spent by rural women on household chores was cut down to 26%. All this has ensured that agricultural growth in Gujarat has remained more than 10% in the past 10 years. Small scale industries have been set up in rural areas providing livelihood to people living in the state’s 18,000 villages. Boys and girls in rural areas are spending more time in educational activities and the Gujarat government have been able to provide e-governance in every gram panchayat of village.Successful implementation of the Jyoti Gram Yojna has forced UPA government to include it in 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) for supplying round-the-clock high quality three-phase power to all villages of India.


As a Planning Commission “Faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth” said It accepted separation of agricultural feeders in the country, which would enable villages to get 24×7 three phase power supply for domestic use. modi-mask2Today Gujarat generates revenue by selling electricity worth 5,105.43 MUs to Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharastra and Delhi. Gujarat has become a profit-making state in the field of electricity distribution –losses have scaled down to 20.13% while collection efficiency has shot up to 100%. The state government is now coming up with solar energy parks across Gujarat for generation of cheap electricity. Laying of solar panels on water canals has already begun. More and more cities and villages across Gujarat are being illuminated by solar electricity. There are also projects for harnessing wind power. When half of India was seeing major power failures two years ago, Gujarat was enjoying 24×7 power supply. From February 1 Delhi, which voted the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government to power because Kejriwal promised major relief on the power front, is now gearing up to face 10 hours of power cuts. Kejriwal may accuse the power discoms of blackmail, but the fact is though he is an IITian he has no idea about how the system can be changed in a scientific manner. But Modi did not mess up with the existing GEB — instead he found ways to improve its functioning.

Source: http://www.newsroompost.com/power-people-modis-24-x-7-mantra-winter-discontent/