After 75 years since India gained its freedom, the Ramgarh village in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district celebrated a long-awaited milestone as electricity finally illuminated its surroundings. This significant development brought immense joy to the faces of the Vantangiya tribe members residing in the village, marking the realization of a dream that had been cherished for decades.
“Even after 75 years of Independence, the Ramgarh Vantangiya village, situated in the Hardwa Gram Panchayat of Gonda, remained disconnected from the mainstream of development. As part of the UP government’s aim to bring development to the tribal villages, we are carrying out a series of works in the Vantangiya-populated areas and electrification of the pathway is part of the same development process,” Neha Sharma, District magistrate, Gonda said as quoted by News18.
The district administration recently constructed a road to give direct connectivity to the people of Ramgarh village, which falls under the Tikri forest range. The village is 18 kilometres away from the town area. With no road connectivity, covering this stretch was no less than a struggle for the villagers.
DM Neha Sharma also mentioned that a proposal has been forwarded to the government to establish two government schools within the village, with a total outlay of around Rs 35 lakh for each, aimed at providing superior educational opportunities to Vantangia children.
One step behind to achieve universal electrification
According to the website of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a non-profit policy research institute that works on environmental change, use, reuse, and misuse of resources, the Government of India’s efforts in providing electricity access to the country’s population has been commendable.
According to the 2020 India Residential Energy Survey (IRES), “97 per cent of Indian households are electrified. 96.7% of Indian households are now connected to the grid, while another 0.33 per cent relying on off-grid electricity sources. Though, 2.4 per cent of Indian households remain unelectrified. The unelectrified households are majorly concentrated in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Bihar”.
The survey also mentioned that an average Indian household receives 20.6 hours of electricity from the grid. The average daily supply of electricity in urban areas (22 hours) which is longer by a couple of hours than in rural areas (20 hours). With only 2.4 per cent of households lacking access to electricity, India is close to achieving universal electrification.