Budgam: The village at stone’s throw to Sub-Division without electricity in 21st Century

Budgam, Apr 26,: Believe it or not but a locality barely 8 kilometers away from Khag Sub-Division of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district is without electricity in this 21^st Century.

Budgam district administration that received appreciation for electrifying far flung areas under
the ‘Saubhagya Scheme’ or ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ according to locals of Lachmanpora Khan Mohalla completely ignored their area.

“It is a Gujjar ‘Basti’ comprising 35 households. Successive Governments especially during elections promised to us that poles and transformers will be installed but electricity is yet to reach this hamlet even after Jammu and Kashmir was made a Union Territory,” Ali Muhamamd, an elderly man from the hamlet told news agency Kashmir News Trust.

The villagers said they were hopeful of getting electricity under the ‘Saubhagya Scheme’ despite the fact the then Government in 2012 had promised to them that poles and transformers will be installed in the village under ‘Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojna, previously known as Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyut Yojna “

Pertinently, the ‘Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ is an Indian government project to provide electricity to the households. The project was announced in September 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that the aim was to complete the electrification process by December 2018.

“We are not expecting anything and in fact we have given up on hope of receiving electricity. It is normal here to use ‘lalteen, moombati or lamp,” the residents said.

“It is hard to believe but yes, we are living without electricity. The non-availability of electricity has cut this area from the rest of the world. It is the age of the internet, but we can’t reap the benefits of the internet. There is in fact rampant unemployment in the village,” said Bashir Ahmed.

An official from Maintenance and Rural Electrification (M&RE) said: “I don’t think there is a village like this where there is no electricity. Let me check, will get back to you.” (KNT)