Manish Kumar
Post News Network
New Delhi, June 27: Orissa has become the largest beneficiary of getting assistance from the Centre under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY) meant for electrification of rural areas in the country.
A state-wise data from the Ministry of Power suggests that out of the target list of 18,452 villages of 19 states where DDUGJY is being implemented, 3,474 villages are from Orissa – the highest among the beneficiary states.
Similarly, Assam secures the second position with 2,892 of its villages to be electrified under DDUGJY. Likewise, Bihar is the third largest beneficiary with 2,747 of its villages being covered under DDUGJY, according to the data.
Officials associated with the project claimed that there are many areas which are yet uninhabited either due to difficult terrains or due to their inaccessibility where electricity facility could be a reality.
“Out of the 3,474 un-electrified villages in Orissa, about 433 are uninhabited where electrification is not possible. But our team is toiling hard to provide electricity to the remaining 1,675 villages. Our team is now visiting many such un-electrified villages in the state to get them covered under the project,” rural electrification engineer Uttam Kumar Pradhan told Orissa POST.
According to Pradhan, a survey before the launch of the project was conducted by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and other public sector undertakings to get inputs from different parts of the state about the feasibility of electricity projects and the number of un-electrified villages in Orissa and other states. The project is likely to be completed by May 2018, he added.
According to a state-wise progress report uploaded on the government website, 1,366 villages of Orissa have been electrified under DDUGJY while work on many villages is underway. The department officials however claimed that in some areas the team has been facing hurdles due to lack of physical connectivity.
“We have been facing obstacles in transportation of utility poles, iron rods and wires to remote villages due to lack of proper road connectivity. In hilly areas, the problem is more severe. However, we are trying to work out on ways to smoothen the work,” Pradhan added.
According to the Centre, 145 villages have been electrified across the country during June 20 to 26 under the project. Of these, 67 villages belong to Assam, 16 in Jharkhand, 29 in Meghalaya, eight in Rajasthan, 11 in Orissa, three in Madhya Pradesh, eight in Bihar, two in Chhattisgarh and one in Uttar Pradesh.
The government of India has decided to electrify the remaining 18,452 villages by May 2018. The project has been taken up on a mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezing the implementation schedule to 12 months and also dividing village electrification process in 12 stage milestones with defined timelines for monitoring.
