Gandhinagar: The state government has taken three important decisions in the interest of citizens living outside the village. In many villages of Gujarat, some families live outside the village or in the wadi area. In order to ensure that such families can get sufficient electricity for 24 hours even outside the village, some important amendments have been made in the rules of the comprehensive policy for providing electricity connections for various purposes outside the village.

Energy Minister Kanubhai Desai, giving detailed information about these decisions, said that as per the existing rules of the Gujarat government, for new single-phase electricity connections in any residential building located outside the village, electricity connections are provided from the agricultural feeder only within the limit of 03 kilowatt (KW) of power load. The total actual cost incurred for this or Rs. 01 lakh, whichever is less, has to be reimbursed.

After the new decision made by the state government, from now on, families living outside the village level will be able to get single phase electricity connection up to 06 kilowatts (KW). For this electricity connection, they will have to pay only a fixed charge based on the load, i.e. KW based. As a result of this important decision of the state government, farmers living outside the village level and in the farm area will be able to get new electricity connection by paying only a fixed charge, Minister Desai added.

In this regard, the Energy Minister said that in order to provide electricity connection to isolated houses outside the village level, first a technical inspection of the land used for residential purposes other than agricultural purposes and land without agricultural electricity connection will be done. In which, after taking into account various criteria like distance from village level, existing agricultural connection, power line crossing, safety, power theft, after approval of the Superintending Engineer of the applicable Circle Office, such residential power connection can be provided from a non-agricultural feeder without any load limit. Bunch cable will be used for such home power connections.

Regarding the second decision, the Energy Minister said that in addition to new electricity connections sought for public purposes like Ashramshala, Adarsh ​​Residential School, Adarsh ​​Hostel, State or Central Government owned units, all actual costs for new electricity connections sought for various activities like poultry farms, stables, registered cattle sheds, shrimp farms, cowsheds, tobacco threshing floors, mobile towers, mango ripening, etc., are currently being charged; instead, from now on, such units will have to pay only a fixed charge based on kilowatt (KW).

Moreover, the electricity connection of the grain grinding mill outside the village has also been included in such units, due to which, by getting electricity connection to the grain grinding mill outside the village, people living outside the village will get the facility of grinding grains nearby, he added.

Regarding the third decision, the minister said that earlier, electricity connection was provided from the Jyotigram feeder only if there was a group of 15 houses in a non-tribal area outside the village level. With the new decision, now even if there is a group of 10 houses instead of 15, electricity connection will be provided from the Jyotigram feeder.  DeshGujarat