Many Jharkhand villages see 'light for the first time'

Ramgarh (Jharkhand), Dec 24 (ANI): The Central Government's 'Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana', which aims at electrifying villages and providing electricity connection free of cost to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families enabled many villages in Jharkhand to see electric lamps for the first time.

Among those villages are those coming under the jurisdiction of Kander Panchayat in Jharkhand's Ramgarh District.

The Government is making all efforts to ensure that electricity is made available in several far-flung homes in distant villages of the State.

"After 63 years, the electricity has come in six villages of the Panchayat. We are all very happy. Electricity has made the lives of several villagers here easier," said, Ram Prakash Bediya, Villager, Kander, Ramgarh.

"This effort of the government to provide electricity in interior villages is praiseworthy. . We hope that more villages in the district would benefit from the scheme," said Ganesh Prasad, District Magistrate, Ramgarh.

Electricity was recently provided to Kander, Seour, Siduar and Kachudag villages in the Panchayat. The 'Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana' has brightened the lives of people in several far-distant villages in the region, where there was no electricity till date and the villagers were solely dependent on oil lamps and candles.

The 'Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana', which was launched in April 2005 aims at electrifying all villages and habitations, providing access to electricity to all rural households and providing electricity connection to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families free of charge.

During the eleventh five-year plan, for the 'Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana' around Rs. 16,268 crores have been provided. This amount will be used for providing electricity to 49, 383 villages.

Moreover, 162 lakh electricity connections have been provided to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families under this scheme.

"We all are very happy with the electricity connection provided to us by the Government. The farmers are leaning the use of electricity to aid farming. Every one here is now satisfied," said Umeshwar Mahato, a villager from Kander.

"There was no development in our village. Now people are very pleased " said Raghvedra Bediya, another villager.

Major beneficiaries of the scheme are children, as they can study late till night and finish all their assignments.

"Electricity has been provided in our village for the first time. We used to study earlier in oil lamps, but now we can study till late night. We are all very happy and satisfied," said Kedar Bediya, another villager here.

The Rajiv Gandhi Yojana will brighten the lives of thousands of young children in Jharkhand. (ANI)