Free Electricity to 35 lakh BPL families within one year.

The State Government has decided to give free electricity to nearly 35 lakh BPL families within one year. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Energy Minister Surjya Naryan Patro on Tuesday. All the officials of the distribution companies were present in the meeting.Later briefing the media, Energy Minister Patro said in the preliminary phase, electrical instruments like bulb, meter and wire within a price of Rs 2,200 would be supplied to the people living under BPL category. The programme would be initiated in 4,000 villages under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Programme and Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana.
He further said that an electrical poll will be set up after every 30 metres. All the distribution companies would take steps to provide uninterrupted supply of power to the towns and take steps to provide high-voltage line to the rural areas.
"The low voltage problem would be solved within one-and-a-half years. The old transformers would be replaced by new transformers within one-and-a-half years", Patro said, adding that decision has been taken to purchase 3,000 new transformers.
The Power Distribution Company CESU has already changed 150 transformers. OPTCL would set up 19 new transformers. In order to solve the low voltage crisis, a review meeting would be held every month.