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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated Government’s commitment to provide electricity to every village in the country by 2009. Launching the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana here today, he said that the rural electrification programme is "one of the most important promises we are committed to fulfill during the tenure of our Government". "Electrification of rural area is a key foundation stone in the modernisation of our agriculture and in improving the quality of life of our citizens", he said. He pointed out that we had already taken far too long a time to bring the light and energy that electrification provides to rural India and cannot delay the implementation of this basic commitment any longer.
Striking a note of caution, the Prime Minister said that "electricity is a basic necessity but it is necessary that users remember it as an economic asset which has to be valued and used judiciously. Every user of energy must be made aware of its economic and environmental cost", he said.
"As a country of one billion people and with a dynamic economy growing at rates of growth above 7% we are going to consume more energy and we will have to generate this energy. We need to work towards more rational pricing and distribution policies to ensure the new investment required to sustain the growth process", the Prime Minister added.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, Smt. Sonia Gandhi said rural electrification formed the key component of Bharat Nirman. She said, she was happy that the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana was being taken up in keeping with the approach of the late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. "Technology for Rajiv Gandhi was the catalyst for rural change", she said. That technology is to be harvested.
Recalling the concern expressed by the late Rajiv Gandhi on the quality of our delivery system, she said that in this context there was a need to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions and hoped that the Panchayati Raj Institutions are involved in the implementation of the rural electrification programme. She said that the Grameen Vidyitikaran Yojana which "we are launching today is new" – since a similar scheme existed earlier – but we are taking a fresh resolve to finish "the unfinished task" knowing fully well resources will not be a constraint.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri P.M. Sayeed, Union Power Minister recalled the contribution of the late Rajiv Gandhi and said that the former Prime Minister was immensely aware of the centrality of infrastructure especially power development and information technology in ensuring overall economic growth.
Spelling out the details of the new rural electrification programme, the Minister said, the new programe envisaged measures such as creation of a Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone up to the level of 33/11 KV or 66/11 KV substation, at least one substation in each Block; creation of Village Electrification infrastructure – at least one distribution transformer in each village; rural household electrification for an estimated 7.8 crore households; and decentralized and distributed generation of power for villages which cannot be covered through grid extension.
The new Scheme integrates the existing programmes, viz. Minimum Needs Programme, Kutir Jyoti Programme and Accelerated Rural Electrification Programme. The Central and State Governments and Public Sector Enterprises will work in tandem. The scheme envisages 90% capital subsidy for the individual projects, balance 10% being given as loan by Rural Electrification Corporation. The subsidy outlay for the 10th Plan is Rs.5,000 crore.
According to the new definition of rural electrification which has come into effect from 2004-05, a village will be declared electrified if:-
(i) Basic infrastructure such as distribution transformer and distribution lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the dalit basti/hamlet where it exists. (For electrification through Non-Conventional Energy Sources a distribution transformer may not be necessary).
(ii) Electricity is provided to public places like schools, panchayat offices, health centres, dispensaries, community centres etc. and
(iii) The number of households electrified should be at least 10% of the total number of households in the villages.
The function in Vigyan Bhawan was watched by video conference link in 13 states viz. Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Lakshdweep. The Governor of Bihar and the Chief Ministers of the above states greeted the Prime Minister and the Chairperson, National Advisory Council on the occasion and congratulated the Power Ministry for the initiative which will serve as a catalyst for rural employment.
EK/MK.
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