| Nagaland gets 120 Crore for power in Rural areas |
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Kohima, Feb 16: Total electrification of all rural regions in Nagaland has been the Holy Grail of successive governments in the state. Nagaland gets another opportunity, with the Central government approving at least Rs.120 Crore for rural electrification. According to the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) status report till January 2010, the state has been approved funds of Rs. 120.85 Crore for implementing the rural power scheme.
Records obtained here showed the fund approval is for 11 stated Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and the entire number is “under implementation.” The 11 DPRs are understood to be for the entire districts in the state. The total projects’ cost is mentioned at Rs. 120.85 Crore while the costs for the projects under implementation have been mentioned at Rs. 111.17 Crore. The status report also mentioned the number of villages already ‘electrified,’ ‘de-electrified’ or ‘un-electrified’ but covered under the DPRs. Those “electrified” have been shown at total 1152 villages while the “un-electrified” villages stand at 62. Curiously, the Center’s reports said that 43 villages have been “de-electrified.” The explanation for this term could not be had at the time of filing this news report. However, it is understood that being “de-electrified” meant that the 43 villages have been forfeited of their power facilities. The state Power officials could not be reached for comment for the particular matter. The number of hamlets in Nagaland already provided with electrification is mentioned at 552 while a huge 956 hamlets have either been “de-electrified” or are “un-electrified.” Further, the total number of rural households in Nagaland provided with connection is 142992. The number of households covered by the rural electrification scheme and listed under Below Poverty Line (or BPL) is 69900. What now remains to be seen is the actual implementation. With her dubious fund-utilization reputation, a similar RGGVY report (this time for 2008-2009) doesn’t show Nagaland state in favorable light. According to the status report (report-D) on the physical and financial progress of the state’s RGGVY till October 1, 2009, the “achievements” were listed at 0 (0.0 %). For the 11 districts, the district-wise statistics show, the total sanctioned project cost was Rs. 11116.83 Lakh while the total “awarded cost” was listed at Rs. 1809.60 Lakh. The total of the amount released was a huge Rs. 6991.14 Crore. Al Ngullie 
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