Union Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that after the technological interventions and measures taken by the states, the power theft in the country has been reduced to a large extent.Replying to a question of Congress lawmaker Fauzia Khan, he said, "We have asked the state governments to use technology such as high voltage power supply and surveillance mechanism, the theft of power through illegal hooking directly from the supply wire, have gone down."We offered to fund the state governments to use technology for surveillance."He also said that with the free electricity connection under the 'Saubhagya Yojna, the houses which were built earlier have been included, "but all houses cannot be included as new houses are being built every day," said the minister.
Responding to another question of Samajwadi Party Member Rewati Raman Singh, the Minister further informed the House that new connections have also been given in the rural areas.In Uttar Pradesh, over 79,80,000 connections were given till 2018, after which the state government asked for 12 lakh more connections which were approved and later a request for another three lakh connections was also approved by the Power Ministry."We have also informed the states that after March 31, 2022 the Saubhagya Yojna will be closed and we will not be able to give free connections.Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana 'Saubhagya' is to provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas to achieve universal household electrification in the country.