Electrification

The scheme seeks to provide an electricity connection to each and every household by March 2017. Since then, Uttar Pradesh has been able to give around 21 lakh connections. This is nearly 13% of the target.

District-wise status of household electrification presents a very poor picture.

Jhansi, for example, has over 72% unelectrified households and Lalitpur 74% and Jalaun 74.98%.

CHANGING DEFINITION

The definition of rural electrification has been changing from time to time.

As per the current definition, a village is declared as electrified if 10% of the total inhabited households have an official electricity connection, apart from public places like schools, health centres, panchayat bhawan if any, also being connected.

“This is why all over 1.25 crore villages and hamlets are technically electrified in the state, although nearly half of the total households still do not have an electricity connection,” said people familiar with the matter.

“But most of these unelectrified households may be using electricity illegally,” they said.