Press release - June 1, 2011
Lucknow, 31 May 2011: Failure of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) to fast-track and provide for quality rural electrification was the underlying message which emerged from a public consultation organised by Greenpeace and People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) today. The consultation was organised to discuss the loopholes of the scheme and recommend the way forward.
The consultation at Lucknow was preceded by social audits of the scheme in Tarwa and Mehnagar blocks of Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. Greenpeace also held a public hearing in Azamgarh. More than 1500 people attended the public hearing in order to voice their complaints about the lack of electricity and lack of information under the scheme.
“The scheme has been completely obscure and non inclusive and hence you can see the lack of information about the provisions and rights under the scheme. Metres have been installed but connection has not been provided. The metre reading system doesn’t work and hence there is a lot of fear amongst people of getting inflated bills. The complaint redressal mechanism is poor and service is deprioritised,” were the overall concerns raised by people. The social audit has revealed that a large number of people had been denied even a connection. Hence the RGGVY website’s claim that 93 per cent villages have been electrified is a sham.
“The regional consultation today assumes significance in the context of the process underway to review the RGGVY scheme by the Planning Commission and Union government, as part of the 12th five year plan. The spending of over Rs. 32,000 crores under the RGGVY scheme under the tenth and eleventh five year plans with excessive reliance on a centralised grid expansion model has quite clearly failed to deliver on the mandate” said Ramapati Kumar, Campaign Manager, Climate and Energy, Greenpeace India.
“In many villages the implementing agencies have just done the formality of providing connection to 10 per cent of the population and declared it electrified. The infrastructure provided is also to cater to just those 10 per cent people. Whether people are getting timely electricity or not, whether the wires and transformers are working or not, does not bother the government or the implementing agencies,” he added.
The consultation at Lucknow, as with the earlier organised public hearings, have followed a democratic participatory approach and was attended by impacted community members, government officials, policy makers and civil society representatives including (mention either individual names or key significant functionaries).
In conclusion, Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi of PVCHR said, “The Planning Commission and the government should include people’s and civil society’s concerns into the scheme. People are demanding reliable and sustainable power that gives them the freedom and opportunity to plan their lives and livelihood. Decentralized renewable energy is an alternative that can empower people. RGGVY has the potential to truly electrify rural India if the potential of DRE is factored in as a key component”
Greenpeace calls on the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power to mainstream DRE in a RGGVY in a significant way. The scheme should:
- Take up a target of small scale renewable energy generation (mix of mini-grid and off-grid) infrastructure development in the 12th plan period.
- Embed the social audit component in the scheme to enhance accountability of the system.
- Include guidelines for energy infrastructure for irrigation and medium and small scale industries as part of rural energy programme
For further details, please visit www.greenpeaceindia.org or contact:
- Ramapati Kumar, campaign manager, Greenpeace India, +91 98455 35414,
- Shachi Chaturvedi, senior media officer, Greenpeace India, +91 98187 50007,
- Munna Jha, media consultant, Greenpeace India, +91 9570099300
