Punjab govt gives Rs 140 crore for rural electrification

Chandigarh, Apr 27 (UNI) The Punjab Government today sanctioned a grant of Rs 140 crore to provide 24 hours uninterrupted power supply in all the 'dhanis' (house clusters) in the state.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting on rural electrification held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The first installment of Rs 35 crore from Punjab Rural Development Board was released today to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) for the execution of this gigantic project.

The Chief Minister asked the PSEB Chairman Y S Ratra to complete the entire project within 18 months.

It was informed in the meeting that over 12,000 'dhanis' would be covered under this scheme and 200 villages would be converted to three phase connections to provide 'quality' power transmission to the consumers.

Prominent amongst other who were present in the meeting included Financial Commissioner Development G S Sandhu, Principal Secretary Finance D S Kalha, Principal Secretary Rural Development and Panchayats Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister D S Guru, Principal Secretary Power and Irrigation Suresh Kumar and Secretary Mandi Board Kulbir Singh.

UNI