314 Indian Villages Electrified in a Week

Across 9 states 314 villages finally saw the light of the bulb. Under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for rural electrification, the government electrified 314 villages in just a week (from 29th Feb to 6th March 2016). People of 93 villages in Uttar Pradesh, 41 in Odisha, 40 in Assam, 40 in Chhattisgarh, 31 in Arunachal Pradesh, 30 in Jharkhand, 19 in Bihar, 16 in Madhya Pradesh and 4 in Rajasthan finally saw their houses lit up for the first time.

The rural electrification program is seen as a priority mission by the government, and they have decided to light up the remaining 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 1, 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech last year, had announced to provide power to these areas within 1,000 days. The government has succeeded in electrifying as many as 84,187 villages which constitute over 38 per cent of the targeted 1,21,124 villages. Out of the remaining, 8,496 villages will be electrified through grid and 3,312 villages through off-grid due to geographical barriers restricting obtainable grid solutions.

The project is seen as a mission and the government said that the implementation strategy of the electrification plan is scheduled for 12 months ‘with defined timeline for monitoring’. The acceleration progress of the project is also closely monitored by the Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) which gives monthly reviews on it.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (independent charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, said that under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna, a village will only be considered electrified after all the buildings in the village are connected to electricity lines. These lines will be sufficient for the usage of a number of LED lights. He also announced plans to come up with energy efficient fans which consume only about 25-30W of power. This will be a significant boost to the villages which were without electricity till now.

The extensive rural electrification programme is seen as a good change, lighting up many homes which were deprived of electricity.

News Source: The Hindu Business Line | The Fearless Indian
Image Source: IndiaTv

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