SHILLONG, March 11: Training its guns on the MDA Government, the Opposition on Friday questioned the government’s claims that all villages in the state have been electrified under the Saubhagya Scheme.
Raising this issue during the Question Hour of the Assembly, AITC legislator from Rangsakona, Zenith Sangma, called it unfortunate that Bolgangre village under Rerapara Block in West Garo Hills was left out of the electrification programme, as he recalled that the state government had certified earlier that 100 per cent villages have been electrified under the Saubhagya Scheme.
In reply, Deputy Chief Minister, in-charge of Power department in state, Prestone Tynsong, said that as per census, Bolgangre has 75 households, of which 33 are already electrified, but the remaining 42 could not be electrified due to want of additional infrastructure as Bolgangre was not included in the list of beneficiary villages under the Saubhagya Scheme.
Tynsong, however, elaborated that the Ministry of Power had asked the state to submit a detailed project report (DPR) in regard to the electrification project under Saubhagya Scheme in 2017. Accordingly, the government had submitted the DPR with an estimate of Rs 1,914 crore, but it was subsequently cut down to Rs 1,189.58 crore.
Informing the House that the estimate was further reduced to Rs 657.04 crore, Tynsong said that whole proposal kept changing over the years. At present, implementation of works costing Rs 657.07 crore is already completed.
Nonetheless, opposition MLA Zenith Sangma questioned the government on the fate of far-flung villages in the state, comparing them to a village like Bolgangre which, despite being easily accessible, was left out of the Saubhagya Scheme.
In response, Tynsong said that the electrification work in left-out villages will be taken up under the Revamped Distribution System Scheme (RDSS).
It may be noted that Cabinet had last year approved the action plan for the RDSS under which the state is expected to receive a fund of Rs 2,500 crore for improvement of the distribution system and implementing 100 per cent metering system in Meghalaya.
The deputy chief minister said that the DPR has been submitted through REC Limited and the implementation of the electrification programme will begin once the DPR is approved by the Ministry of Power, even as he added that Bolgangre has already been included in the proposed DPR.
Unmoved by Prestone Tynsong’s explanation, Zenith Sangma took a jibe at the government for creating hype, glorifying its achievements when ground reality had revealed otherwise.
The power minister responded by telling the House that the government will ensure the implementation of the project under RDSS goes down to the last mile.
When asked for the number of villages not covered under Saubhagya Scheme, the minister told the House that he requires a notice to furnish information on that.
He, however, said that out of the 177 villages under Rerapara Block, 24 were covered under Saubhagya.
Joining in with a supplementary question, Rongara-Siju MLA, Rakkam A Sangma, enquired whether two villages under Rongara and Baghmara Blocks have been covered under Saubhagya as well and if electrification goals have been met for the said villages.
Tynsong based his reply on his earlier explanation to inform the House that these villages under Rongara and Baghmara stand left out due to the reduction in the DPR estimate.
The left-out villages, which are yet to be covered under Saubhagya or any other scheme, will be covered in the second phase of electrification under the RDSS scheme, Tynsong said.
Later, Chokpot MLA Lazarus Sangma requested the power minister to set up a sub-station in Chokpot, while also apprising him of the seven villages under his constituency, which were left out too.