The Hindu Business Line : Revised norms dim rural electrification

Revised norms
A village can now be declared electrified only if basic infrastructure such as distribution transformers and lines is provided in the locality.
The number of electrified households is at least 10 per cent of the total households.
Majority of public places in the village have access to electricity.

New Delhi , May 7

It may be a one step forward, two steps backwards situation in case of the Government's rural electrification efforts.

The number of States claiming 100 per cent rural electrification has fallen from 11 in 1991 to just five in 2005, according to the latest Central Electricity Authority data. Also, the national average of village electrification is down to 74 per cent of inhabited villages, from a much higher 85 per cent way back in 1991.

The Government is attributing the tumble in the rural electrification numbers to a recent revision in the criterion for declaring a village electrified. As against the earlier norm of deeming a village electrified if power was being used within the "revenue boundary of the village" for any purpose, the Government has revised the criterion to a stricter three-point stipulation from 2004-05. A village can now be declared electrified only if basic infrastructure such as distribution transformers and lines is provided in the locality; the number of electrified households is at least 10 per cent of the total households and majority of public places in the village have access to electricity.

According to the latest position, after the new definition kicked into place, nearly 1,50,000 villages are still left to be electrified across States, out of the estimated 5,86,000 villages in the country.

State-wise

The revised definition has considerably worsened the situation in States such as Jharkhand, where 78 per cent of the villages are yet to be electrified, Bihar (53 per cent villages) and UP (42 per cent villages).

Of the country's total rural households estimated at 138.27 million, 56.5 per cent (78.09 million households) are yet to get power, according to data till December 2005. Way below the national average, Bihar has over 95 per cent of rural households still to be electrified, Jharkhand has 90 per cent, and Orissa 80.6 per cent.

A worrying aspect could be that the proportion of households going without electricity in some of these States is much higher than the percentage of unelectrified villages — for example in Bihar, while 53 per cent villages are left to be electrified, 95 per cent of rural households are without power. This could be a pointer to the fact that some of the larger villages, having comparatively higher number of households, have probably been left out of the electrification drive so far.

Also, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Kerala and Punjab are the only five States to have 100 per cent village electrification in 2005 as against the 1991 census-based estimate of 11 States. The slippage has mainly been attributed to the revised norms causing "marginal" gaps in target achievement. For instance, Andhra Pradesh has just 48 villages yet to be electrified to reach the 100 per cent mark, Nagaland has just 62 villages left while Sikkim has 45-odd villages left, according to Power Ministry data till December 2005.

More Stories on : Power | Rural Development

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Akshaya Tritiya spells gold rush for banks

Social security funds - need of the hour

Cellphones may rock MP3 player sales

Bharti keen to offer services in Gabon

IA going for syndicated ECB to fund aircraft buys

Duty exemption allowed under new import authorisation scheme

Indo-Pak grey market trade worth $965 m in 2005-06: Study

IT/ITES driving realty, telecom, hospitality sectors

Myanmar gas: India works out route bypassing Bangladesh

Revised norms dim rural electrification

Fate of UP sugar policy hangs in balance

Momentum to continue