Odisha: Four LED bulbs free of cost to each poor household

With general elections some months away, the Odisha government has decided to introduce a new scheme “Ama Ghare LED Light Karyakram” to provide four LED bulbs free of cost to each poor household.

Announcing this while presenting the budget, Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said a provision of Rs 125 crore has been made for the new scheme. However, details identifying the poor households are yet to be worked out.

Political observers are of the view that the new scheme of the State Government is a counter to Ujala scheme launched by the Centre in 2015 under which more than 1.26 crore people have been benefited in the State.

While the new scheme has come in for strong criticism from the BJP, the ruling BJD has defended it by stating that this is a new initiative to benefit the poor families.

While presenting the budget, the Finance Minister said in order to ensure electricity for all, Rs 560 crore has been allocated under the Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana, Biju Saharanchal Vidyutikaran Yojana and the State share of Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY).

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