Piyush Goyal slams UP government for not signing 'power for all' document

GANDHINAGAR: Union Minister Piyush Goyal today criticised the Government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for not yet signing the Centre's "power for all" roadmap document and said it does not seem interested in providing round-the-clock electricity to the people in the most populous State.

The State Government is "not interested in giving power to 1.8 crore households, which translates into 8 crore people", as it has not yet signed the Centre's `24X7 power for all' (PFA) roadmap document, said the Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines.

Talking to the media here, he said Tamil Nadu approved the document on Monday, leaving Uttar Pradesh as the only holdout State as all others have endorsed the initiative which seeks to provide regular electricity to all households.

"We have ensured the Central Government gives support to every state so that the poor in the country gets free power connection, and we have provided fund for this to all states.

"In fact, I am happy to inform Tamil Nadu, which was the second last state to sign the document, has joined the power for all effort," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar at the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.

Without naming Uttar Pradesh, where Model Code of Conduct is in force in view of the upcoming Assembly polls, Goyal said, "Now in the whole country there is only one state, which, despite two years of persuasion by the Centre, has not yet agreed to join the 24X7 PFA initiative."

"It seems the Government of the day (in UP) is not interested in giving power to 1.8 crore families despite having financial support running into thousands of crores from the Centre," the Minister maintained.

"I think the Central and State Governments are working to make 24X7 PFA a reality and people of every state are watching the performance of local leaders and will surely take a decision on who is the right person to provide power," he added.