New Delhi: Most of the Northeastern states including Meghalaya came in for criticism for poor performance in the power sector especially in the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a flagship programme of the Ministry.
“Performance of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Kerala needs improvement,” Union Power Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said at the Conference of Power Ministers here on Tuesday.
This Centrally-sponsored scheme is being implemented in 27 states out of which the performance of states like Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand can be considered as very good. Performance of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal can be considered satisfactory, Scindia said.
The meeting deliberated upon several issues related to the power sector and resolved to provide affordable and adequate power to consumers by making electricity accessible to all particularly to those habitations that are not connected with the Grid.
The minister emphasized that restoring the financial health of the state-owned distribution utilities should be the topmost priority of state governments.
For Northeast adequate funding will be made available to Arunachal Pradesh for their sub-transmission projects, the Power Minister said.
The Northeast Agra link to transmit clean energy from the North-Eastern and Eastern region of India to the city of Agra across a distance of 1,728 kilometers has already been inaugurated, he said.
According to officials associated with RGGVY in Meghalaya, the Central scheme is facing hurdles especially in laying transmission line and outsourcing of bill collection through franchisees.
Another problem is the difficult terrain especially the poor road communication in West Khasi Hills and the whole of Garo Hills.
Incessant rain has also affected the laying of transmission line, the officials had said.
The Government of India through the Ministry of Power has already sanctioned over Rs 300 crore out of the total estimated cost of more than Rs 400 crore for implementation of RGGVY in the State.
The main component of the scheme is to lay both high tension and low tension lines in all the rural areas particularly in villages which have not been covered under the erstwhile rural electrification schemes.
The other component of the scheme is to implement the collection of revenue from rural electrification through the franchisees.
There are a total of 6026 villages in the State, out of which only 3568 (59.21 per cent) have been electrified, it was informed.