Srinagar, July 23: Around 3,57,405 households have been electri?ed in the entire Jammu and Kashmir under the Saubhagya scheme.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that the J&K Power Department Development (PDD) was working hard to ensure electrification in every village of J&K.
He said that despite facing many natural barriers like hilly terrains and the difficult topography of the region, the J&K government fulfilled the dream of inhabitants living in these places to see the light of the bulb.
The spokesman said that for the first time, after 73 years of independence, village Saddal of Udhampur district and Ganouri-Tanta village of Doda district saw the light of an electric bulb ending decades of darkness in the lives of villagers of these villages.
He quoted a village elder of the Gnaouri-Tanta village as saying that they were living a miserable life without electricity till now.
“After electricity was provided to us under the Saubhagya scheme, our life eased a lot. Our children now study at ease during night hours also. Earlier they couldn’t study after evening hours. We had to burn wood for light in our houses,” the official spokesman quoted the village elderly as having said.
The spokesman said villagers in far-flung and hilly border areas of the Nowshera sub-division in Rajouri are experiencing a big transformation in their lives after receiving electricity under the government’s Saubhagya scheme.
He said that this area was deprived of power supply for the last seven decades.
“We are grateful to the government for launching ambitious schemes like Saubhgya which have made our lives comfortable and convenient in many ways. Earlier, our children could not study due to a lack of electricity. We had to go to another village to get our mobile phones charged,” the official spokesman quoted Abdul Hamid, a resident of the area as saying.
He said that Pawan Kumar, Sarpanch, Halqa Kotiarhbala thanked the Centre and J&K government for realising their dream of seeing their homes lit up in remote Saddal village.
The spokesman said that J&K has received a reward worth Rs 100 crore from the Government of India for achieving the target of 100 percent electrification ahead of the timeline.
He said J&K had achieved another milestone under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ‘Saubhagya’ with J&K accomplishing the 100 percent target of rural electrification that too before the deadline.