Electrification scheme now under rural monitoring body

A monitoring body for rural development has expanded its ambit and will oversee the UPA government’s key electrification scheme — the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY), Saubhadra Chatterji reports.

A monitoring body for rural development has expanded its ambit and will oversee the UPA government’s key electrification scheme — the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY).

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The new system has been put in place by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh after minister of state (independent charge) for power Jyotiraditya Scindia suggested to Ramesh to place the key power supply scheme under the scanners of the District Level Vigilance Monitoring Committees (DVMCs).

“It was a very good suggestion and I cleared the plan in just six hours,” Ramesh told HT. Another ambitious scheme of the government — the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) that funds projects for under-developed areas — was also brought under the purview of the vigilance panel.

While the RGGVY is run by the power ministry, the BRGF is coordinated by the panchayti raj ministry.

In a letter to Ramesh, Scindia said, “Rural electrification is also linked to rural development. Therefore rural electrification under RGGVY can also be reviewed in DVMCs constituted by your ministry for MGNREGA under the chairmanship of MPs… On several occasions, MPs have raised the question of their active participation to review the progress of implementation of the scheme.”

The RGGVY aims to provide universal access to all and free power connection to BPL households. The scheme, so far, has approved 576 projects.