Eighty-five-year-old Janaki Devi of Dara Nagar village in Badaun district stands below the CFL bulb in her house, quite indifferent on the subject of electricity. Electric poles were raised near her house on the edge of the village 25 years ago. A Dalit by caste, Janaki Devi had thought that as soon as the wiring would be done, her house would be among the first in the village to get power. But the poles were not connected for several years and Janaki Devi lost her vision to cataract before her wish could be fulfilled.
“It was my desire to see a lit bulb in my house. I had seen electricity-powered lights only twice during my life—at a railway station and in Badaun town,” she says.
Tired of waiting for the government to do its job, the village began arranging diesel generators. The generators provide three hours of guaranteed electric supply every evening for Rs 100 a month. A few months ago, Dara Nagar was officially electrified with 35 of 350 households getting electricity from the government. According to a revision in the definition given in the Electricity Act, 2003, an electrified village is one where all public places, such as schools, health centres and panchayat offices, and 10 per cent of all households are connected to the grid. This means only one in 10 households needs to have electricity supply for the village to be considered officially “electrified”.
But residents prefer their private arrangements. “When we require electricity, it doesn’t come. The private generator is reliable. It comes on time and goes on time,” says Swaraj Mal Arya of the village.
Getting a government connection and electricity supply is a costly affair in villages. The official charge for an unmetered connection is Rs 1,400, but corrupt middlemen charge villagers up to Rs 3,500. “Even monthly charges vary from Rs 225 to Rs 250. They deduct more citing, other charges like service tax. We don’t argue as there is a threat of getting less power supply or services if we create a scene. They may even refuse to send mechanics in case of repairs,” says Kumar Ranjit Singh, village head of Karnpur.
Karnpur faces frequent faults in power supply. They don’t rely on the government for repairs, but instead collect funds to carry out their own repairs. “Last month, the transformer got damaged. I contributed Rs 1,500 and the rest was collected from others. Government mechanics come only after they are paid bribes,” says Singh. On paper, Karnpur is electrified, but a lot of work remains to be done.
The Narendra Modi-led government has set the target of 24x7 electricity for all rural households by 2019. On paper, Karnpur is electrified, but a lot of work remains to be done if all households are to get electricity. A few poles were constructed here last in 1995. This year in May, another 42 poles were proposed, of which only a few have been erected.
The recent progress in rural electrification may have brought electricity to villages, but unreliable supply and low voltage diminish its benefits. Of the villages visited in Badaun, officially electrified villages get only six to eight hours of power supply. Even this supply is of no use to village residents. “Electricity is there for four to five hours during the day and the rest comes in the middle of night when we have no use for it. We don’t get electricity in the evening when dinner is cooked and eaten,” says Sarfaraz Khan, the newly elected village head of Bhawanipur Khalli of Sahswan tehsil. More than 750 households in Khan’s village are officially electrified.
Low voltage also hampers the potential utility of electricity, forcing residents to continue depending on oil lanterns. “Electricity at night is like the dance of a peacock in the forest that no one ever sees,” says Charan Singh Sakya, village head of Dauri Narottampur. A quarter of all houses in this village have electricity, but this has not reduced the consumption of kerosene. The use of chargeable electrical appliances has increased. “I still burn five litres of kerosene to light our house,” says Chandra Prakash, a farmer.
In many villages, some well-off families have installed solar panels to fulfil their power needs. “Chargeable appliances and solar panels are the only reliable sources of light for the rural population. The government’s promise of electrification is only an illusion,” laments Sushil Kumar, the young village head of Fateh Nagla.
Not a single village surveyed by Down To Earth had reliable supply of electricity
Villages |
Official status |
Actual status |
Electricity supply |
Quality of electricity supply |
Dara Nagar |
Electrified (23/06/2016) |
10% of households |
10 hours a day |
Erratic and unreliable with low voltage most of the time; households depend on diesel generator for 3 hours of power every day |
Narottampur |
Unelectrified |
25% of households |
9 hours a day |
Erratic and unreliable with very low voltage; use of kerosene for lighting prevalent; some households have solar panels to power lights |
Bhawanipur Khalli |
Electrified (17/01/2016) |
60% of households |
8 hours a day |
Erratic and unreliable with low voltage; households still dependent on kerosene |
Karnpur |
Electrified (18/01/2016) |
Only 8% of households |
10 hours a day |
Erratic and unreliable with very low voltage; use of kerosene and diesel is prevalent |
Fateh Nagla |
Electrified (18/01/2016) |
Only 6% of households |
6 hours a day |
Erratic and unreliable with very low voltage most of the time; use of kerosene is prevalent |
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