By Mohd Mudassir Alam,
Villages of India have remained synonymous with dark in absence of electricity since Independence. The situation remained same in most of rural areas of country till last decade. Thanks to Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), which provided electricity to villages in different states of the country. An ambitious project RGGVY was launched by UPA I government under Ministry of Power, Govt of India in April 2005 for Rural Electricity Infrastructure & Household Electrification. The project having the target to electrify most of the rural areas by the year 2012 missed the deadline and still many villages in states like Bihar have not got electricity. Most importantly, the official website of Ministry of Power (http://rggvy.gov.in/rggvy/rggvyportal/electrification_status.jsp) for tracking status of RGGVY is showing wrong information. Surprisingly many villages not electrified under RGGVY have been displayed as “Electrification Work Completed”.
One such village is Nautanwa coming under Maniyari Post Office of West Champaran district in Bihar. Interestingly this village is native land of Feraque Ahmad (Retired IAS), who had been District Magistrate of Kishanganj in 2008-10. When talked about the developments related to Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana in his village, he said the project is more in paper rather at ground level. Apart from installing the poles around a couple of years back by the contractors no any development has happened, said the former special secretary with Govt of Bihar.
Ahmad said that he had personally talked with District Magistrate of West Champaran regarding the electrification of the village under the project so many times. The concerned ministry and officials had also been informed regarding the delay in implementation of RGGVY but nothing substantial has happened, told the retired bureaucrat. Ahmad explained the issues faced by the villagers, which are more or less similar like many other rural areas in the state. He said, in absence of electricity the villagers are totally cut-off from rest of the state, as they are dependent on age-old modes of lighting. Even charging the mobiles is a big task for the villagers. Around 500 students studying in Madarsa Rahmania Tahfeezul Quran Lil Banaat are facing problem in absence of electricity.
Afaque Ahmad, an MBA currently working in Qatar with a bank is highly annoyed over the progress related to RGGVY. He said, “Nautanwa is my native land and I visit the village at least once in a year. However, the absence of electricity in the village makes the life tough for villagers.” “I have tried my best to bring the issue into notice of the concerned stakeholders especially the district administration. They are giving lame excuses and false promises. In fact, they are not having any accurate answer for the queries regarding RGGVY,” mentioned Afaque. Further he added, even the official website of Ministry is showing wrong status as “Electrification Works Completed”, but in truth only the poles are erected in the village”.
Of course, the governments at Centre and state are making tall claims about various development projects but still the truth is far from realm. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana is undoubtedly an ambitious project focused towards providing one of the most important basic amenity ‘electricity’ to people of the country. However, the facts and status of the project raises question mark over the concerned ministry, officials, surveying agencies and contractors. Nautanwa is one of the thousands villages in Bihar where the electricity connection has not reached since independence. The status of other villages in country can be understood with the example of Nautanwa, which is not benefited even after a connection with a former District Magistrate.
(Mohd Mudassir Alam, a Delhi based journalist hailing from Kishanganj, Bihar)