Waiting for light, a village puts electricity meters in safe
a connection on February 19, 2010, under meter number 307407356, has started receiving bills even when his house remains dimly lit with kerosene.
Dinesh Singh, Assistant Engineer (Power Department), the nodal authority in the Bhim sub-division, told The Indian Express, “Out of the total 35 cases in Saroth, 20 need network connections where 11 KV line has to be drawn and transformers have to be fixed. The government does not have any scheme as of now to provide the network. Phase I of the scheme has been completed and until the next phase is announced, we cannot do anything.”
Singh also claims that there had been irregularities on the part of the contractor, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, and that it had been fined Rs 60 lakh. “This area has a hilly terrain and to reach connections to so many households is quite a challenge. We had a huge task at hand and a few irregularities here and there are always possible,” he said.
The scheme had been launched across the country in March 2005 with the objective of electrifying over one lakh powerless villages and to provide free electricity connections to 2.34 crore BPL households. The government of India was to put in 90 per cent of the investment, and the rural electrification corporation the remaining 10 per cent.
Activists working in the state claim that across Rajasthan, stories such as Saroth’s are rampant. The official website of the Power Department claims 17.5 lakh BPL households have been electrified and
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