Confusion galore over Gruha Jyothi eligibility criteria

With the State government yet to issue guidelines for the scheme, which is a component of the Maha Lakshmi scheme, misconceptions too are galore among the people.

Hyderabad: Even as the State government has announced plans to soon launch the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which promises 200 units of free electricity, confusion prevails among citizens as to who all will be eligible.

With the State government yet to issue guidelines for the scheme, which is a component of the Maha Lakshmi scheme, misconceptions too are galore among the people. Though the Congress party during its poll campaigning promised to provide free power to all households that consume less than 200 units, there is widespread talk that only those who have Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards will be eligible for the scheme.

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There is also confusion about whether tenants are eligible or not. What is the status of people from other parts of the country who are residing in Telangana? What will happen to those who applied for White ration cards during the Praja Palana programme? Will this scheme apply to all of them? Are only people who belong to Telangana eligible? Officials, as of now, are not able to give clarity on these issues, creating more confusion and worry among the people.

Interestingly, the Maha Lakshmi portal is clearly mentioning that the beneficiaries must apply through the Praja Palana application form by downloading it, creating confusion as the Praja Palana application receiving process ended on January 6. Whether the same application submitted during Praja Palana will be considered or a fresh application needs to be submitted afresh is not clear.

Officials of the Energy Department say that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will make an announcement on the Gruha Jyothi scheme in the upcoming assembly session and that clarity will emerge on the terms and conditions of eligibility only after that.

As per the official data, there are over 1,31,48,000 household electricity connections in the State, of which 1.05 crore households consume 200 units per month. Sources said the government was planning to create a special portal for registering the details of the 1.05 crore households that will receive free electricity and that all the relevant information about their electricity connections would be enrolled on this portal.

Meanwhile, the power department has started collecting details of beneficiaries under the Greater Hyderabad jurisdiction.