Indore (Madhya Pradesh): As part of Dharti Aaba Tribal Village Development Campaign, permanent and free electricity connections are being provided to extremely remote tribal hamlets, tolas and falias across the Malwa–Nimar region.
The initiative, implemented under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), has so far electrified around 3,300 households located far from main villages and panchayat areas.
These hamlets, inhabited largely by forest-dwelling tribal families, are situated one to three kilometres away from their parent villages. Madhya Pradesh West Zone Electricty Distribution has carried out electrification drive in districts including Khargone, Barwani, Dhar, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dewas, Ratlam and others.
West Discom managing director Anoop Kumar Singh said that extensive logistics were arranged to ensure speedy electrification. Electricity infrastructure, such as cables, poles, transformers and conductors were transported from company warehouses using trucks and, in difficult terrains, even tractors and bullock carts.
As a result, within just four months, 3,300 remote households were connected to a 24-hour permanent power supply at no cost.
The electrification has brought visible change to daily life in these forest hamlets. Children are now studying under lights, mobile phones are being charged at home and families are able to use televisions for the first time.
In Rasasangli Neem Falia of the Bistan distribution centre in Khargone district, a new transformer, cables and meters were installed near the house of consumer Sildar Tuliya Dudwe. Villagers marked the occasion with traditional prayers, expressing happiness over receiving permanent electricity under the Dharti Aaba campaign.
Sildar Dudwe said the free electricity connection has transformed life in the hamlet, while his son Eda Sildar Dudwe added that an uninterrupted power supply would greatly support his studies. The power company has ensured electrification even in hamlets with only two or three households by installing new transformers, poles and lines.
According to company data, electrification has been completed in 805 remote locations in Khargone, 590 in Barwani, 591 in Khandwa, 260 in Alirajpur, 203 in Dhar, 170 in Jhabua, 223 in Ratlam, 196 in Burhanpur, 113 in Dewas, 78 in Indore Rural, 42 in Ujjain, 23 in Neemuch, 12 in Mandsaur and smaller numbers in Shajapur and other districts.
The electrification work under the campaign is being continuously monitored.
Electrified tribal families attend R-Day parade in New Delhi
As a special gesture, tribal families from electrified hamlets under the Dharti Aaba campaign were invited as special guests to the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. After returning by air, the beneficiaries met the MD and shared their experiences.
Many of them said it was their first visit to an airport and their first-ever flight. During the New Delhi visit, the families also travelled by metro, visited the Prime Ministers’ Museum and witnessed the Republic Day parade, including Madhya Pradesh’s tableau featuring Devi Ahilyabai Holkar.
