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BHOPAL: Amid government claims of rural electrification , people in a large number of villages in the backward region of Bundelkhand continue to languish in darkness as there is no electricity supply . There are dozens of such villages in Chhatarpur alone.

For hundreds of villages in backward districts of Madhya Pradesh , electricity supply still seems to be a distant dream.

Rampur village, with a population of about 1500 people, is 115 km away from the district headquarter of Chhatarpur. Located on the banks of Ken river, the villagers have in fact lost hopes of electricity supply. Electricity poles were erected in 1990, but they were uprooted in Ken river flood in 1992, said Suresh Garg, a former member of Janpad in Chhatarpur.

“About seven months back, the villagers, majority of whom belong to kevat community also staged an indefinite dharna demanding electricity but in vain. Several complaints and requests sent to the district administration also fell on deaf ears,” he said.

People survive on kerosene made available on ration card issued for BPL people and wood collected from the jungle areas nearby, he said.

Rampur is not the only example. There are villages like Gaderianpurwa, Bhoorapurwa, Simariya, Ravpura, Dumkheda, Anhariwali and the list goes on.

Kamta Prasad, member of Janpad Panchayat, said, “The government’s claims are incorrect. There are large number of villages where there is no electricity supply. On paper, officials may have electrified villages but in fact they are not.”

Rajesh Prajapati, district panchayat president, admitted “many villages have no electricity”.

“I don’t know what was the input given by officials from here, but the fact remains a large number of villages have no electricity. They may be electrified by the end of this year under the Sobhagya yojana of the government.“

He also said, “We have been getting regular requests from villagers to get their villages electrified.”

