ALLAHABAD: About 500 people of Chakshyam village in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad district till recently had to travel more than 1 km to charge their cell phones after the village transformer stopped working 14 years ago. Now, the village has finally got its power back after the state department restored it under a government scheme.“Plans are also afoot to light the village through solar lighting. The village has a population of over 2700 people and majority of the youths are well educated, yet it was lagging miles behind others due to lack of power supply. The villagers used to go to nearby Kirawan village to charge their cell phones," said an official.The village is still counted among one of the most backward villages in the district. Its people got an opportunity to get their homes illuminated in mid 2000. But after three months the transformer stopped working. The power department later fixed it but two months after that it was again out of order.“In these 14 years we complained all the way from the power department authorities to the local MLA but we only got assurances.We had stopped complaining when six months ago officials started visiting our village, and then we got to know that our village has been selected under a state government scheme for solar power," said gram pradhan Shiv Babu Gupta.Sajid Khan, a government primary school teacher in nearby Baharia block and resident of the village, said, “With the passing of very year our village was pushed two years back as compared to other villages as far as development is concerned. It is evident from the fact that people of the village had cell phones, gadgets and other electric items but no electricity to charge them."As part of the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Samagra Gram Vikas Yojna, pucca houses are being built for 60 people living in huts, solar panels are being fitted and also roads are being constructed in the village.He said shopkeepers in neighbouring villages used to charge around Rs 3 to Rs 4 per mobile phone and were complaining of the huge influx of people who wanted their cell phones charged.Safia, a villager, said, “Despite poor development, amajority of the villagers are literate and employed. A majority of the houses have television, DVDs and other luxury items but the electric power required to use them has arrived after a gap of 14 years."