Tag: electrification

Vivek Gupta asks Supplementary Questions on internet connectivity to Gram Panchayats in Bengal

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, through you I would like to know from the Hon. Minister, out of the 3,354 gram panchayats in West Bengal, as mentioned in this report, only 219 have been lit. Sir, while I was studying this report, I was also studying some other data. This is way below the national average; in any other State, the work that has been done is much more. I am also happy to know that the money that is being spent is increasing every year. But even after increasing the money, the number of gram panchayats being given electricity is still very less compared to the national average.

Also, I have asked about gram panchayats, and it is mentioned in the reply about optical fibres that have been laid, the trenching and ducting that have been done. So, Sir, what is the link between the digging of the trenches and last-mile connectivity, that is, connectivity to the households.

I thank the Hon. Minister for his reply and hope he follows up on his reply fast. The Minister in his reply has mentioned that 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots have been set up by the rural telephone exchanges of BSNL. Sir, I would like to know, through you, from the Hon. Minister that how does he plan to bridge the gap between the gram panchayats and the households; because Sir, the last-mile connectivity that he just mentioned, this 25,000 is nowhere near sufficient to make it available to each and every household, which is very essential for the Digital India programme.

 

Partha Pratim Roy asks a Supplementary Question on electrification of villages

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Many of the villages all over India, including few villages of West Bengal, are unelectrified till now. Madam, in my parliamentary constituency Cooch Behar 54 Mouzas which are disconnected from the mainland – due to the rivers Kaljani and Dhoula – are unelectrified. Fifty five Bangladeshi enclaves which were recently exchanged between Government of India and Government of Bangladesh are also unelectrified. My earnest request to the Minister is to electrify these areas immediately. What is government’s initiative taken in this regard?

infrastructure bengal

Bengal Power Dept to expand reach to other countries

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State power department is aiming to develop the state as the power hub of the country and provide surplus power to various neighbouring countries on a large scale, power minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee said in the Assembly on Monday.

He said that the production of power has gone up in the last few years and the state government has already started providing the surplus power to Bangladesh. Now, the power department is planning to supply the power to neighbouring countries including Nepal, Bhutan. The department is also eyeing an increase of power in state in the next few years.

The power minister also claimed that Bengal ranks second after Maharashtra in terms of production of electricity without the assistance of the Centre. Power minister, on Monday, once again told the house that rural electrification work is on the verge of completion. The Minister said that his department is committed to providing quality electricity to the distant villages.

Following the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s order, the power department has taken up all possible steps to ensure that the villages get the same quality of electricity as the city. The minister mentioned in the Assembly that around 14 villages are yet to be covered. The electrification work is almost done at 10 villages. The minister also said that the rural electrification work in the state would be completed by this year.

The Minister also said in the Assembly that the Centre is not allotting more money in this sector as demanded by the state government. He told the house that despite lowering of central assistance to 60 per cent from 90 per cent, the government remained committed to electricity to all.

 

উদ্বৃত্ত বিদ্যুৎ পার্শ্ববর্তী দেশগুলিতে বিক্রি করতে চায় রাজ্য

গ্রামীণ বিদ্যুদয়নে সংযোগ দেওয়ায় ৯৯ শতাংশের বেশি সাফল্য এসেছে রাজ্যের। বিদ্যুৎমন্ত্রী শোভনদেব চট্টোপাধ্যায় দপ্তরওয়ারি বাজেট পেশের সময় উল্লেখ করেছেন, এগারোটি জেলায় গ্রামীণ বিদ্যুদয়নের কাজ শেষ হয়েছে। চলতি অর্থবর্ষেই বাকি কাজ শেষ হয়ে যাবে। উদ্বৃত্ত বিদ্যুৎ রাজ্য বাংলাদেশ, ভুটান ও পূর্ব ভারতের রাজ্যেও বিক্রি করতে চায় বলে উল্লেখ করেছেন তিনি।

তিনি তথ্য দিয়ে জানান, ২০১১ সালে সর্বোচ্চ চাহিদা ছিল ৪০৪১ মেগাওয়াট। চলতি বছরের জানুয়ারিতে ৬২৩১ মেগাওয়াট। আগামী দুই-তিন বছরে আড়াই হাজার মেগাওয়াট আরও বিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদন হবে বলে তিনি দাবি করেন। মন্ত্রী সোমবার বাজেট আলোচনায় বলেন, “দীনদয়াল উপাধ্যায় বিদ্যুদয়ন প্রকল্পে কেন্দ্রের ৬০ শতাংশ দেওয়ার কথা। কেন্দ্র বলেছে ২০১৮ সালের মধ্যে গ্রামীণ বিদ্যুদয়নের কাজ শেষ করতে। আমরা বলছি, ২০১৭ সালের মধ্যে শেষ করে দেব। সুন্দরবনের দ্বীপেও বিদ্যুতের কাজ শেষের পথে।”

শহরের মতো গ্রামেও একই ভোল্টেজ থাকবে বলে তিনি দাবি করেন। তাঁর বক্তব্য, ৫৯টি গ্রামে আংশিক বিদ্যুৎ ছিল। তার মধ্যে ৪০টি তে কাজ শেষের পথে। তিনি জানিয়েছেন, রাজ্য সরকার সাগরদিঘিতে প্রথম ‘সুপার ক্রিটিকাল’ তাপবিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্রের অনুমোদন দিয়েছে। এক্ষেত্রে কম কয়লা প্রয়োজন, ধোঁয়াও কম নিঃসৃত হয়।

আগামী অর্থবর্ষে দশটি সাবস্টেশন তৈরির লক্ষ্যমাত্রা নিয়েছে সরকার। মন্ত্রী সৌরবিদ্যুতে জোর দেওয়ার কথা জানিয়েছেন। রাজ্য ৫০০ মেগাওয়াট সোলার পার্ক তৈরিতে পূর্ব ও পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুরে কিছু জমি চিহ্নিত করেছে। জমিগুলি এই প্রকল্পের উপযোগী কি না, তা বিচার করা হচ্ছে বলে মন্ত্রী জানান। পাশাপাশি বিদ্যুৎ বণ্টন সংস্থা ইকো পার্কে সোলার ডোমও বানাচ্ছে।

Derek O’Brien asks a question on electrification during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha

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Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) the number and proportion of households, rural and urban, that have a working electricity connection since 2013, State-wise and year-wise;

(b) the number and proportion of these households that have 24-hour supply of electricity; and

(c) the details of steps taken by Government to provide 24-hour electricity to all households?

Supplementary Questions

  1. According to a recent report by the Central Electricity Authority, the country is expected to become ‘power surplus’ in 2016-17. As per the report, Odisha, Mizoram and Tripura, which are expected to be power surplus in 2016-17. But as of May 2016, the percentage of un-electrified rural households varied 22 and 52 per cent.

 

Almost every village (100%) in West Bengal is electrified with 93% households having access to electricity. It is the best performing State in terms of access to power.

What steps are being taken to assess the real demand for electricity, especially in rural households and how is this real demand going to met?

 

  1. For the last two or three years, West Bengal has been a power surplus state, and continues to be power surplus even with rising industrial and domestic demand.

 

Will the Centre replicate the successful model implemented in Bengal and will the efforts of the State Government to transfer power to other States (and also neighbouring countries such as Bhutan) be supplemented by the Centre?

 

Bengal leads in rural electrification

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Bengal leads once again; this time in rural electrification. Data furnished by the Centre shows that West Bengal is among the best performing states in rural electrification scheme.

In a report placed in the Rajya Sabha by the Union Power Minister regarding the work done on rural electrification in different States, it was revealed that only 14 villages are left in the State to be connected with electricity.

In this respect, it must be added that Bengal has the least number of villages to be connected with electricity compared to all the other States. For example, the number of villages that are still under darkness in Odisha are 3282. In Madhya Pradesh the number of such villages is 346, 2720 in Assam and so on.

State Power Minister said that till 2011, only 30% of the villages in West Bengal were electrified. In the last four years, the number increased to 94%.

Time and again, the Central Government had to follow the Bengal model for different schemes even after neglecting the State financially. Whether it is the Swachh Bharat scheme or Maoist problem, Kanyashree or fair price medicine shops, Bengal has emerged as a national model under Mamata Banerjee.