By IANS,
Ranchi : Five days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ceremoniously switched on power supply to ten villages in Bokaro district, it transpires eight villages were never electrified. A shocked Jharkhand Governor, Syed Sibte Razi has now asked for a status report from the state government.
Manmohan Singh inaugurated electrification of ten villages in Bokaro district April 22. The state government claimed that these villages were lit up under the centrally funded Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme (RGRES).
According to reports now, only two villages were electrified and the remaining eight villages are without electricity even five days after the ceremonial electrification.
The Prime minister was kept in the dark about it. He inaugurated the online electrification when he was in Bokaro to lay the foundation of modernization and expansion of the Bokaro Steel Plant, reports say.
The eight villages which were in the original list of ten targeted fof electricfication but still without electricity supply are Munga Sarla, Katamkulhi, Ormo, Berotand, Bemrotand, Ararai, Tantebera and Rukam.
“The electricity board officials came to our village and informed that electrification work will be completed by April 21 and the village will get electricity from April 22. We are yet to see our houses lit up through electric supply,” said Bhuneshwar Rajwar, a resident Munga Sarla village.
According to sources, the central government has taken the issue seriously. Even the Jharkhand governor, who was present when the prime minister launched the schemme, is surprised at the disclosure.
“Razi has asked the Jharkhand government to submit a report regarding electrification of the ten villages under a scheme inaugurated by the prime minister. The governor has asked for the status report and why inauguration was done without electrification,” said a source in the Governor’s House.
Under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme, the Jharkhand government received nearly Rs.3 billion from the central government.