DHENKANAL: Despite provision of several State and Centrally sponsored schemes for electrification, around 101 BPL-dominated villages in the district are yet to be provided with electricity.
Sources said at the end of fourth phase implementation of different subsidised power schemes, electrification work in villages is moving at a snail's pace.
During the District Electrical Committee meeting chaired by Minister of State (Ind) for Steel and Mines Prafulla Kumar Mallik recently, CESU officials informed that 400 villages and 321 hamlets have been provided power supply under Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana (BGJY). Similarly, of 1024 villages identified under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGVY), 1002 have been electrified. Till date, total 5322 villages have been electrified in four phases under the schemes and 101 villages are yet to be provided power supply.
Every year, the State Government releases `4 crore to the district and `50 lakhs to each block for power connections to BPL family. At present, `7 crore is yet to be utilised under different schemes. During the meeting, it was decided to divert `4 crore to Development Programmes for Energy System Improvement (DESI) for electrification work for BPL families.
Mallik directed district administration officials to cover all villages under the schemes in a time bound manner. Collector Roopa Roshan Sahoo said transformers will be upgraded at different places in the district soon.
Executive Engineer of CESU Bani Bhusan Mohanty said the MP and MLAs will submit their proposals on rural electrification works at the meetings scheduled to be held on October 28 and 31.