Silauta is a small village in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh and Rajshree Shukla lives in this village. Rajshree has completely changed her life and that of her family in the last few years. Not only this, but seeing her success, other women of the village have also started following her path. The reason for this change is the Bijli Sakhi Yojana, through which Rajshree has become financially empowered and is earning more than 50 thousand rupees every month.
The 'Bijli Sakhi' initiative started by the Uttar Pradesh government in May 2020 is providing employment opportunities to rural women. This scheme was started inspired by the success of the 'Banking Sakhi' scheme. Rajshree says that just two months ago in July 2024, she got a commission of Rs 81,900. With this commission, she joined the top 10 'Bijli Sakhis' of the state.
As a 'Bijli Sakhi', Rajshree goes to every house in the village to collect electricity bills and deposits them at the nearby electricity office on time. This saves people from standing in queues and also gives Rajshree a good income. According to a report in The New Indian Express, this scheme has empowered more than 30 thousand women like Rajshree in Uttar Pradesh.
About 10,500 'Bijli Sakhis' have deposited electricity bills worth more than Rs 1120 crore in the last four years and earned a commission of Rs 14.6 crore. This scheme was started by the Uttar Pradesh government in May 2020 after the first wave of the Covid pandemic. The scheme aimed to provide employment opportunities to those rural women who are educated but stay at home.
A major advantage of this initiative is that the loss incurred by the electricity distribution companies due to late payment of bills has been reduced. It was started as a pilot project in eight districts on 1 February 2020. Later, seeing its good results, the government decided to implement it in all 826 blocks of 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Rajshree says that she joined 'Radha Swayam Sahayata Samuh' in 2020 and was entrusted with the task of depositing electricity bills. Initially, she earned Rs 30,000. Gradually, she started getting calls from women who wanted her help in depositing electricity bills. With this, the financial condition of her family also changed a lot.
Under the Bijli Sakhi Yojana, women in rural areas earn a commission of Rs 20 for every bill payment up to Rs 2000. One percent commission is given on bills above Rs 2000. Similarly, in urban areas, 'Bijli Sakhis' gets Rs 12 for every bill up to Rs 3000 and 0.4 percent commission on bills above Rs 3,000.
Only women can apply for this scheme. To become a Bijli Sakhi, it is necessary to be a permanent resident of Uttar Pradesh. The government has made some rules and conditions, based on which the benefits of this scheme will be given. Government agencies not only provide the necessary equipment to 'Bijli Sakhis' to submit bills and issue receipts but also provide training to use digital payment methods.
PC:Panchjanya
