On Independence Day, 2014, after winning with majority, and accepting the chair of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had promised from the ramparts of the Red Fort that all the villages (18,452), which remain in darkness, would get electricity within 1000 days. This promise is being carried out effectively and the rural electrification process in India is in full swing. The idea of Grameen Vidyutikaran is being implemented and the results are evident.
The project has been taken on mission mode now. It is going to be implemented in 12 months and the target will be achieved by dividing the village electrification process in 12-stage milestones with defined timelines for monitoring.
Electrification Project
Till the end of February, 4,319 villages had been electrified constituting over 23 per cent of the targeted 18,452 villages as per the information updated on Centre’s Garv portal that provides details in this regard. In keeping with the mission mode, the project has gained momentum in March:
- The government completed electrifying 54 villages in Assam in the past 2 weeks.
- 45 villages were electrified in just one day on 11 March 2016, including 11 villages in Odisha, 6 in Uttar Pradesh, 7 in Arunachal Pradesh, 5 in Assam, and 16 in Jharkhand.
- Earlier, 196 villages across the country got electricity in January under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna ( DDUGJY).
- Out of these 196 villages, 75 are in Assam, 22 in Arunachal Pradesh , 22 in Bihar, 20 in Chhattisgarh, 16 in Odisha, 16 in Jharkhand, 11 villages in Uttar Pradesh, nine in Madhya Pradesh, four in Manipur and one in Rajasthan.
- During the FY 2016, 7,012 villages have been electrified till date.
- Out of remaining 11,440 villages, 7,843 villages are to be electrified through grid.
- 3,148 villages are to be electrified through off-grid where grid solutions are out of reach due to geographical barriers.
- 449 villages are to be electrified by state government.
- In order to expedite the progress further, Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) is monitoring the entire process.
- Apart from monthly review, identification of villages where milestone progress are delayed, and keeping a track of the list of villages at the stage on “under-energisation”, are also being done to help expedite the project of rural electrification.
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted saying, “This year we have electrified five times the villages covered last year and 1.35 times the villages done in last 3 years combined.”
Conclusion
India is well on its way to achieving its goal of electrification of villages. PM Modi understands that to be developed, India needs to take along in its march, every sector, including the rural sector. The project of electrifying the villages of India will truly enlighten the lives of crores of rural population.
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