Telangana Education Boost: State to Supply Free Power to Schools and Colleges

On Thursday, 5th of September 2024, the Telangana government decided to provide free electricity to government-run educational institutions to ensure high-quality education. The Government Order, issued hours after Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka announced the initiative at a function to commemorate Teachers' Day, will take effect immediately.

Mr. Vikramarka, who is responsible for the finance and energy portfolios, stated that the people's government would provide free electricity to 27,862 educational institutions throughout the state and reimburse the electricity department for the expenses associated with the scheme's implementation.

The modalities of the scheme have been outlined in the GO.The power distribution companies will establish an online portal that will provide login credentials to the respective departments of all government educational institutions.

The online portal will be updated with the finalised list of institutions to be included under the scheme by the secretaries of the relevant departments. The department's login will display the monthly invoicing for each institution. The institution in control will receive a hard copy of the bill showing the billed value and unit consumption.

The portal will also facilitate the generation of reports that pertain to the consumption, bill amount, historical consumption, invoicing, payments, and balance of different institutions, manuals, and districts. These reports will be accessible to all departments. The Finance Department will be integrated with the portal to allow departments to pay TG DISCOMS invoices using the budget allocation.