Six hours uninterrupted power supply to farmers, separation of grids into three for farmers, industries and residential purposes, and electrification of every single village by December 2018 are the goals the government is working on to meet power demands in State. Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Saturday went a step ahead of claiming that the government targeted at supplying power outside State by 2021.
Speaking at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Urza Samvad organised by a news agency here on Saturday, the CM also stressed upon adopting solar energy saying that solar energy was boon for rural Jharkhand as the government succeeded to take electricity to those interior villages through solar energy where wired power supply was not at all possible due to their geographical terrain.
“From less than half of the villages being electrified in State post independence, we tried and succeeded in electrification of almost all the villages in last three years. With less than 300 remote villages remaining now, we are targeting every village to be electrified through solar energy by this year end. There are 60 power grids and 257 power sub-stations are under construction. We will conduct camps within 15 days in entire State through which all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided free electric connection. Jharkhand is a State of coal and we are committed to make Jharkhand a power hub of country,” said the CM.
Additional Chief Secretary and Development Comm-issioner Amit Khare stressed upon requirement of strengthening transmission and distribution, which so far remained one of the biggest hurdles in electrifying every household. “We achieved many landmarks in last three years as far as taking electricity to villages is concerned. All our Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) are now enjoying access to electricity through solar energy. We approached to naxal infested areas of State which never saw light in dark even after seven decades of independence. However, reaching out to every village is not enough and we are trying to reach out to every household with electricity,” said Development Commissioner Amit Khare.
MPs from Kodarma and Dhanbad Ravindra Roy and Pashupati Nath Singh respectively, Padma Shri recepients Balbir Dutt and Vikas Bharti (Bishunpur) Secretary Ashok Bhagat, Hindusthan Samachar Agency Chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Ravindra Kishore Sinha, Coal India Limited Chair-man Gopal Singh, Hindusthan Samachar Agency Member of Board of Directors Indrajeet Singh, former Power Grid MD RP Singh, secretaries of various Government departments and others too were present.
Former Power Grid MD RP Singh stressed upon requirement of decentralisation of power production and said that the government needed to get Panchayats involved in electricity production at local level with equity sharing to every household in catchment area.
He said that this idea would not only save transmission related cost, but will also make people a responsible power consumer and saver of energy.