Bhubaneswar, July 18: Orissa assembly today witnessed heated exchange of words between ruling BJD and opposition Congress over the tardy pace of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in the state. When the treasury bench accused the Centre of not cooperating with the state government in smooth implementation of rural electrification activities through RGGVY, Congress members blamed the administration for its tardy progress.
Stating that the state government was not against the rural electrification programme, Energy minister Atanu S Nayak said the PSUs were not working properly. Nayak, however, admitted that the detailed project reports (DPR) prepared at the district level were not correct which slowed down electrification work.
“Instructions were given to re-prepare DPRs in order to overcome the lacunae there in”, the minister said. The minister also stated that the state government launched its Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana to cover the villages and hamlets having less than 100 population.
The RGGVY was not implemented in the villages and hamlets less than 100 population. The CPSUs were found giving the works on franchise to small contractors thus delaying rural electrification activities.
Despite several hurdles, as many as 4934 villages of the total 40,706 villages and hamlets, were electrified.
—PTI—