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Ranchi: Five days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ceremoniously switched on power supply to ten villages in Bokaro district, it transpires eight villages were never electrified. A shocked Jharkhand governor, Syed Sibte Razi, has now asked for a status report from the state government.
Manmohan Singh inaugurated electrification of ten villages in Bokaro district April 22. The state government claimed these villages were lit up under the centrally funded Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme (RGRES).
According to reports now, only two villages were electrified and the remaining eight were without electricity even five days after the ceremonial electrification. The prime minister was kept in the dark about it. He inaugurated it when he was in Bokaro to lay the foundation of modernisation and expansion of the Bokaro Steel Plant, reports say.
The eight villages which were in the original list of 10 targeted for electrification but still without electricity supply are Munga Sarla, Katamkulhi, Ormo, Berotand, Bemrotand, Ararai, Tantebera and Rukam.
"The electricity board officials came to our village and informed that electrification work will be completed by April 21 and the village will get electricity from April 22. We are yet to see our houses lit up through electric supply," said Bhuneshwar Rajwar, a resident Munga Sarla village.
According to sources, the central government has taken the issue seriously. Even the Jharkhand governor, who was present when the prime minister launched the scheme, is surprised at the disclosure.
"Razi has asked the Jharkhand government to submit a report regarding electrification of the 10 villages under a scheme inaugurated by the prime minister. The governor has asked for the status report and why inauguration was done without electrification," said a source in the Governor's House.
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