FOR THE VILLAGES
POMER
Shri L o P o Seethapathy*
I n India, t h c nur~berof vil!.azes g e t t i n g
e l e c t r i c i t y c7.t t h e Seginfiing of t h e F i r s t Five
Year Plan w2.s only a b o u t 3,000e
lAtt h e end of
t h o Plzn, we hcd a b o u t 7,000 villages eloctrif i e d '
The p r o z r a m e inclu-ded i n the Second
Out of Rs, 427
F i v e Year Plan i s a n a n b i t i o ~ x sone,
c r o r e s f o r t h e e n t i r e power programle i n t h e country;,
n s i:lu~h a s Rso 75 c r o r e s h~been s e t a p 2 r t f o r
extending electricity
.
t o villzr;es,
.
villages
- ~..lsoutone c?nd a hp.12 t i u e s
ing a t t h e begini-lilzg of t h e Pl2.n
.
Over :L0,000
t o derive the benefit,
t h e nunber, exist-
- are
prograr!1~!ed
With cconorilies i n d e s i g n ,
s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n of c o n s t r u c t i o i l 2nd uthlising a s ranch
indigenous n 2 . t ~ ~ - i 2 e. ls~p o s s i b l e , we ;-lay hope t o s t r e t c h
t h e noney a l i t t l e f a r t h e r ,
howcvor, only
2.
Eveil w i t h t h i s r;chievei:icilt,
l i t t l c over 3% 02 t h e vil!ay;es
have been covered i n 1961,
r'
m
P
viou-ld
<
1
r
t
h
--
---.-l-...l-
-"
*-L.--,-
,-*
-- ---- --
-I-
y i s .Dj.rectcr ( R u r a l E l e c t r i f i c e t i o n )
. i n t h e Ccn-bra1 Water and POWC~:
Conmission,
Ove~
1,00,000
50 OOO-- 1,OO 000
,
20 005)10,000-5 000-2,000-l,.QOO-
-
508--
0--
50,000
20,000
10,000
5,000
2~000
1,000
502
Inport2nt c i t i e s
hzvo e i t h c r becn o r
Zi?c!
t h e snallcr towns
rill be e l c c t r i f i c c ! durirg t h e
Seeond Pl.2.i~. Wo h~.ve n e c e s s a r i l y t o l o o k t o the
vilSo;cs
f o r i n c m o s i n g the coi'.suxption or" . e l e c t r i c i t y
i n tiye country t o r ~ . i s etlic. indc:: of p r o s p e r i t y ,
,-
I
DIFFICULT TASK
The problen of r u r c l e l e c t r i f i c a t i o n i s b c s e t
with d i f f i c u l t i e s o The capi-t?.L s p e n t on t h e schci-ncs
est
nable t o f e t c h the.necessrrg i n t e ryears
i s usually--and o t h e r charges l o r e nUh e r
aft c r coy-miss ioning , Evcn f o r t he ryore promisillg
s c h ~ n e s ,thc rcvciluc r c t u r n s do n o t bclelice t h e
o p e x a t i o e a l cxponscs f o r peri-oCs of 5 t o 10 years.
1 ~ sriirc hzvc covcrcd t h e morc L i ~ ~ y o r b nv ti l l n ~ e s ,and
a s ~,greso to t h e v i l l e ~ g e swith po::ul-tion
of 2,000 2nd
t h e p r o b i e a w i f i be s t i l l n o r c d i f f icu-It.
l~nger,.~.,
l o n s e r period of d c v e l ~ i : ~ r ~ cmn ty h~yve
t o be rcclconcd.,
One g r z t i f
i ' ~ . c t o r ,h m ~ c v e r ,
i s t h a t ~u.rc21f 011: 2.re gettiilg nore and nore
electricity conscious and r.rc s v e
to t 2 . k ~t o t b
-.,
use of e l e c t r i c i t y vihen i t i s ought
within
1-,
t h e i r re?.ch,
I t i s a l s o a go:d'sign th2-t s e v e r a l
..
'?overrunent dep3-rtrccnt s who cre e o n s u ~ ~ i e rofs
O
,
elcctricity
, have
s i z ~ a b l e;3ro;r?.i;:ne s of
activities durinz t h e Second Plen.
3.rc bound t o give
2.
f i l l i p t o t h e dcvelopfiient of
c l e ~ t ~ i c i it ny t h e rum-1 arc?.s,
POWZR
Thcse schenes
FOR
.
IT'JDUSTRE S
E l e c t r i c i t y i s n o s t l g uscd i n rbr2.l
a r e z ~ sf o r ~ ? g r i c u l t u r puxpim
~l
g processing land
pro$.ucts l i k e ,rice, whcet, co-Lton, o i l sacds,
p o t c t o c s , f i s h , n e a t end f r u i t .
In
-
Tinbcr works
many p l a c e s , Pcwer
a l s o , u s e poi~erLloons, sill:-'iluouing,
cerding
, knitting,
J-
LZ~G-weaving,b ~ t t o n ~ n a l r i n g;en-iiiaking
,
, ;?ottcryp
. <
'
,
netg.1 worlis, t a i l o r i n g c u t l c r y , s n n l l
machino shpps,
.
t o y n a k i l ~ g , are v i l l a z e c r a f t s thz.t can benefit
c o n s i d e r a b l y from t h e use of e l e c t r i c i t y , +
.
Use of e l e c t r i c i t y for domestic purposcs i s
o n l y one of t h e n2ny u s e s and c s c o n s m p t i o n f i ~ u r c s
i n d i c e t c ct p r e s e n t , t h i s forus only a ilinor p o l t i o n
of t h e t o t a l .
k vj.llages>hould be reckoned as c l e c t r i f i e
vhcn t h e r e i s use of e l c c t i k i t y ' f o r any purpose
whatsoever,
The s t a t i s t i c s indicz-ted above excludi
v i l l a g e s having o l e c t r i c i t y i'lorely f o r tube-
wells o r i s o l z t e d power purposcs,
There z r e
p r o b a b l y over,.,oe
-
2robzbly over 5,000 tubewells ruil by c l c c t r i c i t y
and >rob2 i ~ l ys c a t t e r e d , i n a s i:;eily villa,c:.es,
I t i s estimated th3.t t h e zveragc c o s t of
e l e c t r i f i c 2 - t i o n o f a v i l l a s c b2s& on prescntday
costs i s betwcen Rs,- 60,000 and. 70,000,
When we
go t o s n z l l o r z..?mc? sr-.l~.llerv F l > c . ~ c is n t h e i n t ~ r i o r ~
the,ernount spent on s u b - t r a n s n i s s i o n l i n e s
bc
iriil
f
nor$ and norc while t h e moncji spcnt on low t e n s i o n
d i s t r i b u t i o n nay be l e s s and l e s s
- the
su:: t o t 2 1
r c n a i n i n g p r ~ x t i c e l l yt h e sene, u n l e s s t h e v i l l e g c s
a r e f a i r l y c l o s e t o one ano-khcr.
Llthough c l e c t i r c i t y n2.y be a v c i l a b l e i n
I
th, r u r a l p a r t s , t h e r e should be suf'f i c i c n t i n c?u.uceuellt, e s p e c i a l l y t p t h e 2ooror s e c t i o n s , t o
nake use of i t s s e r v i c ~ , With t h i s cnd i n v i m
it is necessary t o keep down t h e f o r n a l i t & e s t o
the b a r e s t niiiinm.~2nd a l s o t o sc;c t h a t the consuler
d o c s n o t pay avoidable chz.rgzs,
I
SUBSIDY FOR R U R X FO:iZR
It, i s g c i ~ c m l yz.:;rci.c'
,.
thftt i t
110u1.d hC
necessary t o f i n ~ ~ n c i e l lays s i s t rureh c l e c t r i f i c r t i o n
schenss i n sone f o r n o r o t h e r i n t h e i n i t i a l s t e n e s
of Zcvclopnent.
This would be c s p o c i r l l y so s;
the
r i c h e r r u r e l 2rc2s hzvc a l r c z d y . bccn covcrcd nore o r
l e s s , and we s h a l l be t r y i n 2 ts c c t o r t o t h e
dcf i n i t e l y l e s s advlntagoous zrc-s cs f c r e s
tho
It i s
return on t h e c a p i t o l irivestncnt i s c3ncerned.
w e l l ki?om+ a
-
0
6
w e l l known thSLt load growth in the
slow, the loed f a c t o r
P U . ~ Z .n
~
c a s is
lild even with f u l l
-
dcvclopnerit r u r a l sc,hcncs ci-?.i:-,_.ot
bc c x p c tccl t o
reach a l e v e l anytliing l i k e urb2.11 areas,
Even though
along w i t h o t h e r , ore ?eying achencs i n the urbcn
?%&as and i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r s , rrhcn a l a r g e volmc of
work i s Qidc'rtzkcn i n t h e r u r z l c7.rcc2s2 t1ic overall
r e t u r n on t h e c e p i t a l invcstcd on t h e electricityschen2s of the S t ~ ? . t ic s bound t o g c t rcduccd g r a d u a l l y ,
a s it h2s happcncd i n soi2c of t h e S t a t e *
.
L study grouy has bccn convcncd by t h c M i n i s t r y
of I r r i g a t i o n and Zovcr w i t h tcrms of r c f e r c n c e r e l a t i n g
t o t h e devcloprncnt of r u r a l c l s c ' t r i f i c e t i o n , ' In a d d i t i o n
t o +the r e p r c s c n t a t i v c s of t h c Planiling C o m i s s i o n and t h e
M i n i s t r y of Fin,%c c , r o p r e s o r i t a t i v ~ sfrom o t h e r
Mil.nistries who a r e maj-nly consuuers of c l c c t r i c i t y j
s u c h a s t h e M i n i s t r i e s of Conxuiity D c v c l o p n c n t ~Product i o n ,
Foobd and + z r i c u l t u r c , and Corx~crccm d I n d u s t r y have
*
a l s o becn associc?tcd i n t h c $.iscussions,
Ol?c
of th
main i t c n s under c o l ~ s i d e r a t i o ni s whcthcr any c c n t r a l
,?ssSstc?~ncoi s c n l l e d f o r iaplcnicnting the r u r a l c l c c t r i -
?i&gt
ion
progr2~1~1e
2nd. t o dctcrnj.m t h c quan~wlland form
of bj.i':..: such ~ s s i s t a m o.The
~ , . study group have a l r e a d y
had s e v e r a l d i s c u s s i o n s and t h c h rccocx:~cnhat ions a r c
c x p e c ted soon.
I
The t o r a l c o s t of r e a c h i r g a l l the vilic?ges may be
p a t a t Rs. 3,000 c r o r c s a t p r c s c n t day p r i c e i c v c l s .
If ric zssui:!e that tllc provision in cvcry Fivc
-
Ycer Plan w i l l be t w i c e -the 2rcviou.s one, it
should be pc.ssiSle to c l c e t r i f y ali the n e jor
v a j , g e s in the next six pl.zns, 2 s "L? g r i d s
spread wider 2fid wider,
But t h i s liccds coilcciltrztcd
e f f o r t on all s i d e s .
-(
OW OR-AFT33 BHAD98 18, 1879
W 3 E PIIBLISiiED
cr / m i - N u ,1,39.~S.--!_
By Courtesy: liBha&ira.tb$
S E P F E ~ - ~9 ,R 1957.
-
-