Electricity access improved in Doda-West under Saubhagya scheme

Jammu, Apr 09: Significant progress has been made under the Saubhagya (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) scheme in the Doda-West constituency, with over 3,500 households receiving electricity connections. However, 327 households remain un-electrified due to the early closure of the scheme in March 2019.
As per the official reply to an unstarred question raised by MLA Shakti Raj Parihar, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) cost for Doda District under the Saubhagya scheme was ₹81.27 crore. Of this, ₹32.63 crore was utilized within a span of just six months before the scheme’s closure. In Doda-West alone, ₹11.38 crore was expended to create critical infrastructure including 36.80 km of High Tension (HT) lines, 163.81 km of Low Tension (LT) lines, 44 sub-stations of 25 KVA, and one 63 KVA sub-station.
A total of 3,537 households in Doda-West benefitted from the electrification drive. However, due to the premature winding up of the scheme, 327 households remained without electricity.
To address this gap, the electrification of remaining households is now being taken up under the UT Capex Budget for the year 2024-25. The estimated cost for the completion of this phase is ₹4.15 crore, of which ₹1.12 crore has been released and ₹0.61 crore has been spent so far. Work is currently in progress.
A third-party audit of Saubhagya implementation, conducted by the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) in 2020-21, found certain deficiencies which were subsequently rectified the same year. The updates were uploaded on the Government of India’s SAKSHYA portal. As of September 8, 2023, no pending defects or deficiencies remain, and the scheme stands formally closed after approval from the Government of India in February 2022, post proper auditing and certification.