Govt Clears ‘Electrified’ Villages Definition

The Ministry of Power in a statement said that, village electrification is a legacy issue which, though, mandates electrification of at least 10 percent households in a village, but does not imply restricting household electrification only to 10 percent.

After government faced criticism from the opposition parties on its claim of achieving complete rural electrification, the government has clarified the definition of electrified villages.

The Ministry of Power in a statement said that “Village electrification is a legacy issue which, though, mandates electrification of at least 10 percent households in a village, but does not imply restricting household electrification only to 10 percent.”

As per recent reports from the states, household electrification level in rural areas is more than 82 percent ranging from 47 to 100 percent across various states, the Ministry added.

The government further clarified that “Had the definition been cause, such level of household electrification could not have been achieved. The variation in the level of electrification across various regions and states within the country is primarily because of its size, heterogeneity in terms of topography; location; resources and also because of varying efforts made by the states for household electrification.”

The government has already moved out of this dichotomy and launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’- Saubhagya to achieve universal household electrification in the country by 31st December 2018, it added.

Therefore, the debate over the definition of village electrification in the present scenario has lost the significance, said government.