Jalandhar, Oct 8 (UNI) The AAP today claimed that Punjab will become a “No Power Cut” state by next year, as it launched a Rs 5,000 crore project to overhaul the state’s power infrastructure.
At an event in Jalandhar, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann laid the foundation stone for the ‘Roshan Punjab’ initiative.
The AAP government stated that the project aims to modernise the entire power transmission and distribution network to provide uninterrupted, 24×7 free electricity to every household within a year.
Kejriwal outlined the scale of the proposed infrastructure upgrade, saying the government plans to lay 25,000 km of new cables, install 8,000 new transformers, build 77 new substations, and upgrade 200 existing ones.
He claimed the new system would be centrally monitored through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) technology.
“No other government in India — except AAP — has even dared to dream of giving citizens both free and 24×7 power supply,” Kejriwal said, adding that while his party had made electricity free in Delhi, they were now ensuring reliable supply in Punjab.
The AAP leader acknowledged that Punjab’s power infrastructure had not been upgraded in the past 75 years and that the growing population had increased load on transformers, causing frequent failures.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that Arvind Kejriwal’s “visionary thinking has forced every political party to rewrite its election manifesto,” bringing issues like education, health and power to the center stage of political agenda.
Mann also highlighted other government initiatives, stating that 90% of households in Punjab are receiving zero electricity bills, and that the state government has provided around 55,000 government jobs to youth “completely on the basis of merit.”
The Chief Minister further claimed that his government had launched a “crusade against drugs” and that “the drug mafia was patronized by the earlier governments.”
During the event, Kejriwal also praised AAP MP Ashok Mittal for offering employment at his university to families of flood victims, stating that 35 out of the 60 affected families had already accepted the offer.
The press release concluded with Mann asserting that “those affluent leaders who have misused power to usurp the rights of people will not be spared,” without naming any specific individuals or parties.
