Rajya Sabha
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing the Remote Village Electrification Programme for providing basic facilities of lighting/electricity in all the eligible remote, unlectrified census villages and hamlets through various renewable energy sources, including solar energy. The criteria for eligibility of villages and hamlets for the current year is as follows:-
1. Census villages not being covered under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana due to infeasibility of grid connectivity,
2. All unelectrified hamlets having population of less than 100, and
3. Hamlets having population above 100 but less than 300, in the districts which are not covered by REC in Phase-I of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana.
6680 remote villages and hamlets have so far been identified in the country, which includes 417 census villages identified in Rajasthan. Central Financial Assistance has so far been sanctioned for coverage of 8719 remote villages and hamlets. A target of covering 1500 remote villages and hamlets has been set for the year 2008-09. Coverage of all the remote villages and hamlets under the Remote Village Electrification Programme depends upon identification of such villages by the states and submission of proposals by them as per the Programme provisions. Financial support to such proposals is considered in the Ministry on case-to-case basis and subject to availability of funds. In Rajasthan, out of 417 identified remote villages the state implementing agency has covered 292 villages with financial support from the Ministry. It has also intimated that it does not propose to cover the remaining 125 villages since they are either already electrified or the population has migrated.
This was stated by the Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Shri Vilas Muttemwar in a reply to a question by Shri Kumar Deepak Das and Dr. Gyan Prakash Pilania in Rajya Sabha. Central Financial Assistance of upto 90% of the costs of systems, has been approved for installation of solar homelighting systems in 1986 villages. The projects are being implemented in the state by the state identified implementing agencies, namely Assam Energy Development Agency, Assam State Electricity Board and the State Forest Department. No proposal has, however, been received from the state for using biogas energy for village electrification.
92 remote villages in the districts of Barpeta and undivided Kokrajhar & Bongaigaon, out of which the new district of Chirang has been carved out, are included in the list of villages for which financial assistance has been approved. No proposal has been received from the state implementing agencies for such assistance for any village in the district of Nalbari.
KP/DT
(Release ID :43913)