Aiming to empower and uplift the rural youth and development, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship partnered today with the Ministry of Power to ensure access to electricity for every household in the country through an ambitious scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna (SAUBHAGYA). The scheme aims to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore, including Gross Budgetary Support of Rs 12,320 crore from the government.
In order to successfully deliver a project of this magnitude, huge volume of skilled workforce would be required across different job roles to enable completion of various components of the work. To support the successful execution of the scheme, the vocational training program has been launched in six states namely Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. A total estimated number of participants to be trained between the two job roles of lineman Distribution (Multi-skilled) and Technical Helper is 47000 in these six focus states and more than 55000 across the country.
The launch was done through a video conferencing with states where eminent dignitaries including State Ministers like Dr Neera Yadav, Minister for labour and Skill Development, Uttar Pradesh and Deepak Joshi, Minister of Skills, Madhya Pradesh, engaged to discuss local challenges and targets to support the project.
As the scheme is to be implemented across the country with 200 districts as major focus area, the skilling initiatives are proposed to be delivered in a decentralised mode at district level. The training infrastructures available with ITI’s at district level as well as the infrastructures available with the State Power Distribution Utilities will be utilised for skill training of the candidates ensuring successful implementation of the scheme.
Highlighting the role of electricity in boosting socio-economic development of a nation and congratulating all partners contributing to the success of the projects, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Today’s announcement is a new chapter in the development of our nation. Is it in line with the structured approach of our Prime Minister and his vision of One Team India. With our Skill India program supporting Ministry of Power and the contribution being made from REC, NSDC and the respective State Governments, this is yet another milestone reflecting how a joint organised mechanism is institutionalised to ensure efficient delivery of projects and schemes.”
“Saubhagya is a scheme with estimated expenditure of Rs 16000 crore our of which 25 per cent is estimated cost against wages and margin for human resource being deployed for the project. This is a big employment opportunity for skilled workforce and we will work jointly with Ministry of Power across the nation to ensure that we avail this opportunity for our youth and help them better their livelihood,” he further added.
The measure of success is to map the accomplishments that we achieve on ground. We need more than 5000 lakh man hours today to ensure successful completion of our projects and around 35000 trained manpower for Saubhagya alone. Our targets for skilling workforce will be set in accordance with our local requirements”. Saubhagya is more than a mission to provide electricity to the entire nation and ensure energy security.