Gurugram and Ambala districts are going to be ‘Jagmag’ (illuminated) from coming Independence Day. The state government has prepared the blue print of it, under which the rural feeders of these districts will be strengthened and the power infrastructure will be improved as per requirement.

This was disclosed by the Chairman & Managing Director of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) Shatrujit Kapoor while addressing the Sarpanches and Panchayati Raj representatives of Pataudi, Manesar and Farukhnagar area at a programme organised in the office premises of Block Development & Panchayat Officer (BDPO) Farukhnagar on Sunday.

 Kapoor was given assurance by the sarpanches that they will adopt ‘Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon’ scheme so that their village get 24 hours power supply. The CMD told them about the benefits of round the clock power supply and said that the aim is to provide round the clock power supply to 70 per cent of the population which resides in villages and which is being supplied electricity for 12 hours daily. The villagers have also almost accepted this as a norm but now the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar wants to provide power supply to villages on the pattern of cities.

The Chief Minister said that for 24 hours power supply, the village panchayat is required to submit a resolution stating that it wants to adopt ‘mhara gaon-jagmag gaon’. Such villages must form ‘Bijli Sudhaar Samiti’ which will help resolve the issues coming in the way of infra projects. Presently, 17 villages of district Gurugram are already included into Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon scheme.

He said that the defective electricity lines will be replaced and new transformers to be installed and other infra improvement projects taken up in the villages adopting this scheme, for which estimates of about Rs 45 crore have been prepared and approved.

"Work on these projects would start soon. The Sarpanches have got an opportunity to do something worthwhile for their villages, which will be remembered afterwards. For this, the sarpanches may have to face some resistance also but they need to keep the pace going, which will bring magnificent change in the lives of villagers. This will help check migration to cities from villages," said Kapoor.

According to Kapoor, the Power Utilities distributed about 1.25 crore LED bulbs during last year and thus saved about 200 MW power daily which is equal to power generated from a Unit of Thermal Power Plant in a day. He said that earlier the state was getting 8 to 10 lakh LED bulbs in a month but now seeing the demand, Haryana has demanded supply of 2.5 to 3 times more LEDs from the Central government.

Kapoor asked the Sarpanches to make the people of their villages understand that they should use that much of electricity only which is required and there should be no wasteage. He made it clear that there is no shortage of electricity in the state and said that if power theft is curbed, the electricity rates can come down.

"In September last year the government had reduced 37 paise surcharge and during April this year 62 paise has been reduced. Like this, the electricity rates were lowered by a rupee. If the power theft is curbed at this rate for next 2 to 3 years, the electricity rates can further come down," Kapoor asserted.