Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today informed the House that the government is committed to provide monthly 200 units of free electricity to every household of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) category in Jammu and Kashmir and the project, in this regard, is at its final stage of approval.
The Minister stated this while replying to a question raised by Shakti Raj Parihar regarding Power sector on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The Minister stated that Doda district currently faces power cuts ranging from 3 to 6 hours daily, as per the load curtailment programme, excluding additional shedding by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) due to overall power availability. She noted that certain areas of the district, including Prem Nagar, Dhara, Thathri, Bhatyas, Gandoh, and Bhalessa, experience extra curtailment due to system constraints such as long feeder lengths, capacity limitations, voltage issues, and technical losses.
She said that the government has launched the Amnesty Scheme for Domestic power consumers by waiving of interest/surcharge on accumulated dues, which is expiring on 31.03.2026.
The Minister added that the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) is a Government of India (GoI) initiative aimed at improving the distribution infrastructure and enhancing the efficiency of the power distribution system in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. She said that PESL Limited has been engaged as Project Implementation Agency (PIA) on behalf of JPDCL in Doda district and RDSS Doda Package has been awarded to M/s Vijay Electricals by PESL on 08.09.2023.
The Minister informed that the overall physical progress of RDSS works in Doda district stood at 31% as of January-end. She added that out of 41 feeders, 15 fall under Doda West Constituency, with execution works currently underway on 13 feeders.
She said that the smart metering is under implementation in three phases in J&K viz. Phase-I and Phase-II under PMDP and Phase-III under RDSS. She added that under PMDP, a total of 6,45,738 smart meters have been installed, comprising 1,25,367 under PMDP Phase-I and 5,20,371 under PMDP Phase-II.
The Minister also informed that the process for recruitment of Junior Engineers, Tech-III, Junior Assistants and Junior Stenographers under direct recruitment quota has been initiated. She added that for vacant posts of promotion quota, concerned DPCs have been directed to fill-up these posts by conducting District Level Departmental Promotion on immediate basis.