RGVVY makes headway in state

With the rural electrification work taken up under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) being complete in Angul, Nayagarh and Ganjam districts, the scheme has attained perceptible progress in Orissa.

Out of the total 48,000 partially electrified, de-electrified and un-electrified villages in the state, electrification under the RGGVY were completed in 9281 villages by the end of December 2009.

While electrification of 1600 villages was completed in December last, 653 villages were electrified in the first week of January, a senior official of the state energy department said.

Sources said, the electrification of all un-electrified and de-electrified villages in Angul, Nayagarh and Ganjam district except some inaccessible villages has been completed. Similarly, the process is on the verge of completion in the district of Gajapati with only 28 more villages having less than 100 population remaining to be electrified.

The electrification of 884 villages in Puri, 258 villages in Balasore, 354 villages in Keonjhar, 302 villages in Deogarh and 140 villages in Kalahandi was done by December last year.

The work was completed in 199 villages in Kalahandi, 184 villages in Baragarh, 151 villages in Jharsuguda, 62 villages in Cuttack and 95 villages in Bolangir district.

Besides, 146 villages in Mayurbhanj district, 80 villages in Kendarapara, 64 villages in Kandhamal, 42 villages in Raygada, 39 villages in Jajpur, 61 villages in Sundergarh district and 2 villages in Boudh were electrified during this period.

Among the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), the performance of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was better than the two other CPSUs which were entrusted with the rural electrification work in other districts.

The performance of the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) was not satisfactory for Boudh, Raygada and Kandhamal districts. On the other hand, the performance of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) was poor in all the districts allotted to it, the official sources said.