EASTERN STATES POSE A CHALLENGE TO PM’S RURAL ELECTRIFICATION DRIVE

Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh pose a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to electrify all of India’s villages.

According to the latest figures of the Ministry of Power, as many as 6,430 villages remain un-electrified, as on 4 February, and most them belong to these six states.

Odisha tops the list with the most number of “powerless” villages (1,377), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,229), Assam (1,013), Jharkhand (938), Bihar (577) and Chhattisgarh (471). Other states that have similar villages include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The Centre has offered soft loans to the states to achieve the 100% target of household