Naveen demands early release of fund in RGGVY Scheme

Bhubaneswar, Jun 27 (UNI) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Union government to release funds for early implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyut Yojana(RGGVY)scheme in the state.

In a letter to Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mr Patnaik said yesterday that Orissa had obtained Rs 239.78 crore in 10th and 11th plans, out of Rs 3582.19 crore sanctioned for implementation of the scheme in seven districts.

He said Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) had been published for all the remaining 23 districts. According to him, unless the first installment of the fund was sanctioned, the RGGVY scheme could not be taken up. The scheme includes electrification of 17895 villages, 40706 habitations and 31,85,863 BPL houses.

Though the Detail Project Report(DPR) of all the 30 districts was submitted to the Centre, only four districts--Angul, Nayagarh,Ganjam and Gajapati--had been sanctioned in the 10th plan.

Though the remaining districts had been included in the 11th plan, funds for only Puri, Balasore and Jajpur districts had been granted.

As a result, not much headway had been made with the schemes implemented by the Central Public Sector Undertakings--NTPC,PGCIL and NHPC,the chief minister said.

Mr Patnaik said he was personally monitoring implementation of the scheme and his government was committed to extending necessary cooperation for its implementation. He requested the Union Minister to intervene personally and release funds for the remaining 23 districts for early implementation of the scheme.

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