Baripada: Even as the central government has claimed 100 per cent coverage of electricity in all villages of the country, the scene in various tribal-dominated pockets of Mayurbhanj district speaks a different tale.
People in 2200 tribal hamlets (parts of revenue villages) tucked in hilly and forested pockets still depend on oil lamps as a means of lighting while electricity has been a dream for them. But it does not bother the state energy department that never tires of claiming to have electrified all revenue villages.
It was decided that the left-out hamlets will be electrified by September. The state government had set October 2 as a deadline to finish electrification of all villages and urban pockets in the state. On the other hand, the association of electrical contractors accused the energy department of giving inadequate funds in proportion to huge work.
Information available from the office of the superintending engineer (electrical division) at Baghada, there are 5.84 lakh families in the district. Of them, 3.98 lakh families are electricity consumers. Till date, 1.86 lakh families have not been provided with electricity. The energy department has set a target to engines these household by September 30.
Under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutkaran Yojana, 77,000 BPL families and 35,000 APL families will be provided with electricity. The remaining families will be provided electricity by NESCO under the Soubhagya Yojana.
On the other hand, contractors engaged under the Soubhagya Yojana are unhappy over inadequate funding for work. A number of contractual firms have demanded reallocation of funds for the ongoing electrification work.
They warned of stopping the work at a time when the energy department has set a target to complete the electrification work by September 30. In view of this, achieving that target by that time seems to be a challenge.
“The department will take stock of the allegations and demands of the contractual firms,” said superintending engineer Rajib Nayak.
Nayak added that 2200 hamlets under the revenues villages would be energized by September 30.
PNN
