Patna, July 17 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced that all electricity consumers in the state will be given free electricity up to 125 units every month, starting August 1.
The announcement has brought smiles on the faces of people, particularly the poor and marginalised families who find it hard to foot their power bills.
Many people, set to benefit from the scheme, spoke to IANS and shared their excitement and joy. They also expressed gratitude to the Nitish government for extending largesse to them.
Talking to IANS, Pankaj Kumar Singh, a farmer of Kather village in Banka district, said: "This scheme is very beneficial for us. For this, we thank Nitish Kumar and PM Modi very much. Now, we will use electricity and will be able to take full advantage of it."
Manchan Devi (housewife) of Fatehpur Panchayat of Banka expressed happiness and said: "Earlier, Rs 400 was spent on electricity bill every month, now this money will be saved, and we will be able to use it in other important works. For this, I thank both CM Nitish and PM Modi."
Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has promised to prepare a detailed action plan to implement this scheme so that all eligible families get its benefits. It has raised peoples’ hopes of getting the breather on their electricity bills.
Besides free electricity, there is also a plan of installing solar panels on the roofs of the houses of all domestic consumers or on nearby public places in the next three years, which will promote electricity saving and add to environmental protection.
This initiative will make it possible to generate around 10,000 MW of solar energy in Bihar in the next three years, which will help in making the state self-reliant in the field of energy.
--IANS
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