Exclusive: UP Energy minister says Yogi has 'lighted up' the lives of people with power supply

Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has improved the power scenario in the state especially in villages and remote areas. Hence, BJP is harping on it to woo voters, because 'development' has become a major poll agenda in UP assembly polls. In a freewheeling chat, UP energy minister Shrikant Sharma spoke to ETV Bharat's senior correspondent Anamika Ratan, about the achievement of the state in the energy sector.

Lucknow:Elaborating on the achievements of the Yogi Adityanath government in the field of the energy sector, UP minister Shrikant Sharma said, earlier, the electricity supply or its availability in the state was in the 'ICU'. "Even after 70 years of attaining Independence, scores of UP households, especially in rural areas, were living without electricity. I had my schooling up to Class 12 at my village and I was knowing the pain of pursuing studies under the light of an earthen lamp. When I became energy minister of the state, I made up my mind to improve the power supply scenario in Uttar Pradesh."

"We then started developing infrastructure and the grid capacity was enhanced from 16000 MW to 26000 MW. It was the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve the power scenario in rural households of the country," he said and added, "Earlier, the power supply was made available to only four districts in Uttar Pradesh. Now, the situation has completely changed. We are now trying to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to all of Uttar Pradesh. Electricity supply will not be snapped even for 24 minutes in Uttar Pradesh in coming years."

Prime Minister's Saubhagya Yojana, a visionary project, helped us to work in that direction. Our Prime Minister has the firsthand feel of people living without power in rural areas. Besides, I had the experience. Hence, it helped me to work on the project and ameliorate the condition of electricity-starved villagers in UP, he added.

Besides, in the next one and a half years all the worn-out wires and poles will be replaced. We have achieved remarkable progress in the field of power generation and transmission. Now, the focus will be on strengthening the distribution network. At least one crore 45 lakh (1.44 crore) households in Uttar Pradesh were illuminated with bright light in the past five years, he opined.

When asked, why Uttar Pradesh was lacking in electricity supply previously, to which minister Shrikant Sharma said, "Previous Prime Ministers except for Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, were not aware of power woes the people were facing especially in rural areas. Those Prime Ministers did not see poverty from close quarters or live in darkness. But, it was the vision of our Prime Minister and we worked on it diligently."

When asked about the plans for Mathura because, after Kashi and Ayodhya, the holy city has come on the center stage, he replied, "We have brought a major change in Mathura City as far as providing basic facilities are concerned. Civic amenities in Mathura have been improved. It is our pious land where Lord Krishna spent a major part of His life. Our party's vision is to add facilities to those places related to Sanatana Dharam. It is the vision of our Prime Minister. Meanwhile, dark lanes and by-lanes leading up to Banke Bihari Temple are now brightly lit up. The condition of the drainage system has been improved in Mathura City."

Besides, the UP minister also said, we do politics of development and it will continue as it is. Our party workers were taking care of people during the second wave of Covid as we believe in doing development work without any discrimination.

On Jats and farmers being annoyed with BJP, Shrikant Sharma, "Those who believe in BJP's development work are with the party. The law and order situation in UP improved remarkably during the Yogi Adityanath government. Anti-socials are on the run. Peace is prevailing in the society."