Par panel picks holes in govt's electrification drive

In a sharp criticism of the government's village electrification drive, a Parliamentary panel today said the number of un-electrified villages is much more than the official number.
The panel has also picked holes in the electrification of villages, saying that there are cases where electrification of the villages has been done only in records but in reality they are still deprived of the same.
The number of villages that are yet to be electrified are much more than the official figure (of 11,344 as on March 31, 2016), the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Power said in its report tabled in Lok Sabha today.

There are cases where electrification of the villages has been done only in records but in reality they are still deprived of the same, the report said.
Noting poor quality of electrification work carried out in the villages, the committee recommended that the government must not limit the work of electrification to the list provided by state government only and they shall be open to include any left out village if the same is brought to their notice by the local representatives or others.
As per the official data released today, as many as 10,459 villages in the country are yet to be electrified as against 18,452 villages in April 2015.

The government had set a target of providing power to all 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 1, 2018.
Since April 2015, as many as 7,549 villages have been connected to the power supply.