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Powerless basic schools: 300 institutions in Kheri dist yet to get power connection
Three hundred government-run basic schools of Kheri district are still awaiting an electricity connection
Three hundred government-run basic schools of Kheri district are still awaiting an electricity connection. This, when the district basic education authorities transferred the prescribed new power connection charges worth over ₹22 lakh in the last fiscal itself.
Owing to this lethargic approach of the local Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) officials, thousands of students and teachers of these 300 basic schools are forced to spend school hours in heat and humidity.
According to the district basic education officials, much ahead of UP assembly polls, instructions had been issued to ensure power supply in all basic schools, where polling was scheduled to be held.
During the review of the electrification exercise, the district basic education authorities short-listed 300 schools, where electricity connection was yet to be given.
District basic education officer (BSA) Dr Laxmi Kant Pandey told Hindustan Times that “connection charges @ ₹7539 per school was paid to Kheri Power Corporation department in March 2022.”
However, the power department has failed to provide connections to these schools even after several months.
Pandey said, “The matter of the unusual delay in providing connections to these schools surfaced during the recent meeting of district education and monitoring committee in which Kheri district magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh directed to speed up the process.”
Kheri chief development officer (CDO) Anil Singh facilitated a meeting between the power corporation and the basic education department officials, in which UPPCL officials called for a block-wise list of schools.
“The block-wise list of these schools was provided to the power department a few days back and the power department has assured to provide connection by the end of this month,” Pandey said.
According to Ram Shabad, superintendent engineer, UPPCL, the process to provide new connections to these schools might have been delayed due to estimation issues while in some cases, distance between the school and the nearest electricity pole would have delayed the process.
He said the new connections would be provided soon.
- Deo Kant Pandey
