Piyush Goyal , Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy today launched a electrification programme for villages of Diyara area in the Patna/Saran district in a function organised at Patna. Addressing the function Shri Goyal said that in an unprecedented move, 36 un-electrified villages of Diyara area in the Patna/Saran district are to be electrified through extension of two 11 kV Feeders. This is an inaccessible area surrounded by Ganges and not connected to mainland, where providing electricity through regular infrastructure is difficult. With this initiative of Ministry of Power, a total of 11,375 households will be benefited. These households are currently dependent on agriculture for sustenance and are using DG Sets for irrigation purposes at a rate of Rs.120 per hour which is very expensive. This unique initiative shall be a part of the overall approved budget of Rs.5827.23 Crores, sanctioned by Ministry of Power for the state of Bihar.
Sh. Goyal also announced a pilot project for ‘Uninterrupted Direct Current Supply (UDCS)’ for various areas of Bihar. The Ministry of Power, Government of India, through REC, has also initiated a pilot project with the help of IIT Madras, for providing uninterrupted DC (Direct Current) power to consumers during power cut. This DC power shall be sufficient to support 2-3 lights, 1-2 fans or a TV, mobile phones/laptop charging per household, irrespective of power shortages. An amount of Rs.67 Crores has been sanctioned for its implementation in the areas of Sasaram, Dehri-on-Sone, Bikramganj and Buxar towns. This initiative shall benefit a total of one Lakh households in these areas.
During the function, a MOU between Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Ministry of Skill Development & Enterprises has been signed for Skill Development programs in the presence of Shri Piyush Goyal and the Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy . Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri. Ram Kripal Yadav; CMD of REC Sh. Rajiv Sharma; Joint Secretary, MSDE, Smt. Jyotsana Sitling; Managing Director & CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation Sh. Dilip Chenoy and other top officials were also present in the function.On this occasion, the Director (Finance) of NTPC handed over a cheque of Rs.6 Crores towards skill development to the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. NTPC has signed MOU with National Skill development fund (NSDF), under ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) and NSDC on 26th June, with a commitment of 30 Cr. for skilling of 25,000 youths.REC has earmarked a contribution of Rs. 10 crores for Skill Development under its CSR initiative.
The funds will be used for training of women, youth unskilled and semi-skilled workers, including vocational training. This initiative will benefit around 6400 persons from backward areas of Central and Eastern India including Bihar. Placement assistance of up to 70% will also be provided to the beneficiaries. This project is to be implemented by National Skill Development Corporation under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Govt. of India.