On Thursday, Arvind Kumar Sharma told electricity officials that Uttar Pradesh would run on 24‑hour power during Diwali and Chhath, promising no curfew‑style shutdowns. He directed the department to lift any planned outages and to keep the lights on for families celebrating the festivals.
The minister said consumers with unpaid bills would not be disconnected, but large‑scale theft would be tackled under law. He warned that “unnecessary harassment of small consumers” would be avoided, while “organised, large‑scale power theft” would see strict enforcement.
In addition, Sharma called for a review of pending and rejected connection applications on the Jhatpat portal, urging officials to clear bottlenecks and expedite approvals. He also demanded that rejected applications be re‑examined to identify shortcomings.
He ordered immediate upgrades to transformer capacity where needed, especially in newly formed nagar panchayats, to match the reliability of city centres. A family in Allahabad, who had endured nightly outages, will now expect uninterrupted lighting.
The Urban Development Department will report progress by Friday, and the state will hold a briefing to assess the rollout. The electricity department is expected to publish a compliance report next week.