Electrification of additional 4000 villages in the state under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) are in advance stages and is likely to be completed by June this year.
The progress of rural electrification in Orissa had suffered due to unavailability of adequate poles. But due to proactive steps taken by the state government, the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), entrusted with the task of rural electrification, have dumped poles in the villages to be electrified during the last two months.
Sources said, about 2600 poles have been erected in these villages during this period. This has expedited the electrification work in the villages which are covered under the RGGVY during the 11th five year plan period.
The state government is pressing the 3 CPSUs, National Hydro-Power Corporation (NHPC), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), to complete the electrification of these villages by June 2009, sources said.
Though the central PSUs reported electrification of about 5000 villages and habitations in the state under the scheme, the state government has sought the details of the villages and habitations electrified.
Sources said, parallel physical work was started along with the survey and other preliminary work which has expedited the implementation process. As per the guidelines of the RGGVY, the physical work of the projects normally starts by May.
On the otherhand, the progress of rural electrification work in Angul and Nayagarh district is not satisfactory. NTPC, the central PSU entrusted with the work in both the districts had assured the state government to complete the work by May this year. However, given the slow pace of work, the deadline is unlikely to be met.
Slow pace of the rural electrification work in these districts is attributed to the non-deployment of adequate manpower by the implementing agency. Though all the materials for erection were available, the work couldn’t proceed due to the non-availability of labour, sources added.