New Indian Express reports on the energy minister’s statement on this in the assembly. Following are some excerpts.

Energy Minister Surya Narayan Patro … announced in the Assembly the Government’s commitment to provide electricity to all villages and hamlets in the State by the end of Eleventh Five Year Plan.

The State Government would formulate a captive power policy (CPP) for the captive power plants, he said. … the Minister said rural electrification is being carried out by the State Government under three schemes – Minimum Needs Programme (MNP), Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) and Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutkaran Yojana (RGGVY).

Stating that the Government has submitted the detailed project reports (DPRs) to the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) for 30 districts, the Minister said the DPRs of Angul, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati and Jajpur districts have been approved. Besides, the DPRs of three more districts – Balasore, Bhadrak and Puri – have received in-principle approval.

The Minister said the Centre has released Rs 92.85 crore in the first phase to the NTPC and NHPC to take up rural electrification work in Angul, Nayagarh and Ganjam districts.

Referring to the Biju Gramjyoti Yojana (BGY) announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently, the Patro said under the programme hamlets with less than 300 population will be electrified. He said the Centre rejected the State Government’s request to include hamlets with less than 300 population in the RGGVY.

The State Government has set a target to provide Rs 1000 crore for the programme in the Eleventh Five Year Plan and provided Rs 50 crore in the 2007-08 financial year. Besides, the State Government has also made a provision of Rs 120 crore under the Biju KBK Yojana for providing electricity, road and drinking water to villages.

The Minister informed the House that the Government has undertaken electrification of 4,499 villages under the MNP for which the Centre has provided Rs 120 crore so far. He said by May-end, 3,736 villages have been electrified under the programme.

Stating that five special police stations have been set up to check theft of power and related crimes, the Minister said special courts have been opened to try these cases.

Patro announced that police stations and courts would be set up in the rest of the districts during the year.

Following is Samaja’s coverage on this.

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