Question : Laying of Underground Cable for Electrification

(a) the number of identified Gramsabhas/Majras where the work of laying underground cable for electrification have been completed along with the number
of Gramsabhas/Majras where the said work is remaining in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh and Banswara-Dungarpur Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan;

(b) the quantum of funds sanctioned for electrification in the said areas during the last three years and the current year;

(c) the name of the agencies/companies to which the said work has been awarded along with the quantum of funds provided to the said agencies/companies, work and village-wise;

(d) whether left out Gramsabhas/Majras are likely to be selected under the scheme and if so, the time by which it is likely to be done;

(e) whether any complaint has been received against the said agencies/companies in terms of quality of the said developmental work; and

(f) if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon?

THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

(a) to (c) : Government of India launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) in December, 2014 for various rural electrification works including separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders, strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure, metering at distribution transformers/ feeders/consumers and electrification of villages across the country. There is no provision of laying of underground cable under the said Scheme, hence, no underground cable work has been carried out in rural areas of Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh and Banswara-Dungarpur Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan under DDUGJY. However, underground Cabling work has been carried out under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) in areas under Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (AVVNL) and Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (PuVVNL) DISCOMs for urban towns of Banswara, Dungarpur, and Prayagraj District for 2.60 cKm, 3.05 cKm and 383.89 cKm respectively.Details of agencies involved in the execution of Underground cable works under IPDS alongwith the execution cost are at Annexure-I.

The details of funds sanctioned for electrification works under IPDS, DDUGJY, SAUBHAGYA in the Banswara, Dungarpur, and Prayagraj Circles under IPDS, DDUGJY and Saubhagya are at Annexure-II.

(d) : Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification for providing electricity connections to all willing un-electrified households in rural areas and all willing poor households in urban areas in the country by March, 2019. All households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremists (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh as on 31.03.2019. Subsequently, on the request of seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier but have expressed willingness to get electricity connection were approved under Saubhagya Scheme. All these seven States have reported 100% household’s electrification as on 31.03.2021. A total of 2.817 crore households were electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up to 31.03.2021. An additional 11.84 lakh households have been sanctioned under DDUGJY against which, 4.34 lakh households have been electrified. Accordingly, till date, a total 2.86 crore households have been electrified.

Government of India have recently issued guidelines and mechanism for electrification of any left over un-electrified households identified before 31.3.2019 prior to Saubhagya.

(e) & (f) : No specific complaint(s) have been received regarding the underground Cabling work executed by the agencies appointed for the purpose in the urban areas of Banswara and Dungarpur Circle. Since, no underground cabling has been carried out in rural areas under DDUGJY, the question does not arise in the gram sabhas.


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