After 17 years of Uttarakhand coming up as a State, there are as many as 65 revenue villages and 4758 Toks-the latter is a unit smaller than a village- which are still bereft of electricity connection. This startling fact was revealed while the State Government was replying to a question asked by the Independent MlA Preetam Singh Panwar on Monday- the third day of the budget session of the State Assembly.
Things are really depressing, say the MlAs, cutting across the party lines, while citing the State Government claiming that the state has come up as a power surplus one providing round the clock electricity to the people of Uttarakhand. “The reality of so many villages and Toks across the state wallowing in the conventional dark age must be seen against the backdrop of the State Government laying thrust on the state going digital. They are advocating digital mode of payment, leaving behind the cash payment, with nothing short of missionary zeal while a large number of villager plunge into the primordial darkness once the sun sets. The State Government must set its priorities right. Going digital while making a large segment of the people wallowing in darkness would amount to a grim irony which would reflect the state in a poor light,” confided a BJP MlA who requested anonymity.
While admitting that 65 revenue villages and 4758 Toks are yet to be connected with electricity, the State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant said that the State Government has pledged in the budget placed before the House a few days ago that they would connect all the villages of the state with electricity by 2019. “We have planned to connect 45 out of the 65 revenue villages with solar power. We have also floated tenders for this matter,” he said, adding that all the villages would be connected through roads too by 2019.
The MlAs sounded unanimous in their opinion that the basic amenities should be provided first to the villagers to stop the unabated trend of migration. “It is indeed strange and shocking that in the era of internet and smart phones, a large number of villagers are being forced to go without the electricity for years on end. Unless these problems are solved all talks of stopping migration would amount to flippancy,” said an MlA.