U.P. govt. gives out free power connections to the poor

The BJP govt. carried out the programme through 624 camps organised by the Power and Energy Department

The UP government distributed free power connections to over 58,000 families. Seen here are students studying by the lamplight in Khadapur in Western Uttar Pradesh.

Reaching out to the poor, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Uttar Pradesh government has distributed free power connections to over 58,000 persons from economically weaker sections in the State.

The government carried out the programme through 624 camps organised by the U.P. Power and Energy Department on Sunday.

A total of 86,101 power connections were distributed.

Out of these, 58,596 "free" connections went to persons living in the Below Poverty Line category. Another 27,505 power connections were distributed to persons belonging to the Above Poverty Line (APL) category under the Sugam Sanyojan Scheme. The second category will avail easy installments.

"This is the first time that such a programme was conducted in the State," a government spokesperson said.

U.P. Power and Energy minister Shrikant Sharma said the BPL beneficiaries in urban areas also received free cable and metre connections.

The State selected the beneficiaries by identifying them under the National Food Security Scheme and the Ujjwala Yojana.

Most of the beneficiaries were from the Purvanchal region, with 30, 470 connections, said Principal Secretary, Energy department, Alok Kumar.

Allahabad division had the highest number of beneficiaries with 10,211 connections, while Lucknow had 8,708

Bareilly 7,058, Kanpur 5,974, Mirzapur 5498, Gorakhpur 5434, Moradabad 4,458

Ghaziabad 4,399 and Varanasi 4,038.

The government also distributed 38,249 LED bulbs and 2,577 tubelights, a spokesperson said.