Peshrar (Lohardaga), Sept. 5: Sanjay Kumar Yadav, a young village doctor, has ordered a fridge so that he can store vaccines. Bahuran Mahto, a farmer, feels relieved that he won't have to seek a charging point at the local thana every time his phone runs out of battery. A bunch of children are super excited to think they have new toy towers to test their climbing skills.
For over 10,000 families - including 611 belonging to particularly vulnerable tribal groups - today was an empowering day, both literally and figuratively, with 35 out of 55 villages in rebel-hit Peshrar block of Lohardaga, 140km from state capital Ranchi, receiving electricity connection.
The remaining 20 villages are expected to be powered by October-end leaving the state government with the very doable task of electrifying less than 400 villages more in Jharkhand by the end of next year.
Today, Union minister of state for tribal affairs and Lohardaga MP Sudarshan Bhagat did the honours of lighting up homes in the 35 villages of the block in the presence of local MLA Sukhdeo Bhagat, former home secretary J.B. Tubid, deputy commissioner D.C. Binod and district police chief Karthik S.
"Electrification work in 10 more villages will be completed by this month. And, by October-end, the entire Peshrar block will be glowing with light and delight," deputy commissioner Kumar said on the occasion, igniting hopes for another 5,000 families.
Medical practitioner Sanjay, who runs his clinic near Peshrar thana and now adjacent to the plaque that boasts the formal electrification of his village, said last evening he bought an LED television and had already placed the order for a refrigerator that was expected to arrive soon from Lohardaga town, 30km away.
The 32-year-old is now the first to have a TV set in his native Peshrar village in Peshrar block and no wonder the favourite uncle of all children who swamped his clinic since this morning to watch cartoons.
"The TV is for news and the refrigerator to store medicines and vaccines. On an average, 10 patients - mostly children with malaria - come to my clinic every day. There is a health centre here, but doctors are rarely available. I am hoping that electrification of our villages will bring good doctors to Peshrar," said Sanjay.
Bahuran (30) was visibly overwhelmed as he charged his mobile phone at home. "So long, I went to Peshrar thana nearby where they have solar power and generators," he said.
Contractual employee of Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam (JUVNL) Imran Hussain was a busy man today. He was entrusted with the task to explain to villagers how electric switchboards are used.
"The greater challenge is to tell amused children not to climb the power poles. Though the overhead wires are insulated, monkeying around the poles can be risky," the 21-year-old JUVNL worker said.
Peshrar, a traditional Maoist hotbed, was a no-go zone for most people even during daytime. In 2000, Lohardaga SP Ajay Kumar Singh was killed in a broad daylight ambush.
Peshrar became a block in 2008, but the block development officer's chamber in Kisko, 15km away, ensured that the area remained off the development radar.
During his visit on August 21 last year, chief minister Raghubar Das had promised electrification within a year. Also, chief secretary Rajbala Verma, on February 17 this year, ordered that the block office in Peshrar be made functional within 10 days.
Today, a Vikas Mela was organised to apprise villagers of the benefits of various government schemes such as Kanyadan and Ujjwala. A short video on the tourism potential of Peshrar was also played.
Speaking to this newspaper over phone, JUVNL managing director Rahul Purwar said out of 29,000-plus villages in Jharkhand, around 366 remained to be electrified.
"The figure is based on our reports till August 31. We aim to achieve total electrification by this year-end (although the official deadline is March 2018)," he said.
