By IANS
Chandigarh : The supply of electricity and management of distribution systems in rural Haryana will soon be given to franchisees, preferably the panchayats (elected village bodies).
Haryana’s financial commissioner and principal secretary (Power) Ashok Lavasa said Wednesday that under the franchisee model of power distribution, memoranda of understanding (MoU) were being signed between the village panchayats and the state’s two power distribution agencies – Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN).
The panchayats would engage industrial training institute (ITI) trained youths as ‘Gramin Vidyut Pratinidhi’ (GVP-rural power representative) for attending to the complaints relating to power supply and minor maintenance of the distribution systems.
The franchisee scheme is being introduced under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme.
Lavasa said that in the second phase, the GVPs will look after the work of meter reading, bill preparation and revenue collection.
In the third phase, the panchayats will take over all activities relating to power supply in the villages. They will recover electricity bills and pay them to the power distribution agencies.
The panchayats will be paid Rs.4,500 for each GVP, he said. “The panchayats can engage one GVP for every 500 consumers. I hope this project helps in curbing power theft,” Lavasa said.
Haryana will spend Rs.245 billion during the 11th five-year plan (2007-2012) to strengthen its power distribution network and curb pilferage in the fully electrified state.