Bihar to Launch Monitoring App for Agricultural Electrification
Secretary, Energy Department and Chairman-cum-Managing Director of BSPHCL, Shri Pankaj Kumar Pal held a meeting with the engineers of all the electricity zones and divisions through video conferencing at Vidyut Bhawan. In the meeting, the implementation of RDSS and Mukhyamantri Krishi Vidyut Sambandh Yojana was reviewed and important instructions were given to ensure effective monitoring of the schemes.
During the meeting, it was found that special efforts are required to coordinate between these two schemes at the field level. Since both the schemes are focused on the development of power infrastructure for agricultural consumers, it is necessary to ensure proper monitoring and coordination. In this context, it was directed that during the approval of SLD of the sanctioned works, a self-declaration including GPS coordinates should be obtained from the concerned agency so that there is no possibility of duplication at any point. It was also directed that if such a situation is found during cross-verification and site inspection, the concerned officer will be held accountable. Regarding the work of dedicated agricultural feeder, he said that first 11 kV bay should be determined, only then the work of agricultural feeder should start, so that the feeder can be charged from the dedicated bay and problems like line loss and conductor theft can be avoided.
It was also directed in the meeting that 100% compliance of the site observation report should be ensured so that the transfer of the constructed power structure can be done completely. Apart from this, the work of feeder segregation should be completed immediately after harvesting of crops by April 2025. At the same time, instructions were given to complete the disposal of all agricultural electricity connection applications pending till March 2025 on the facility portal by June 2025.
The Energy Secretary directed to create an app for better monitoring, which should have the facility of geo tagging, time and date stamped photo, uploading site observation report and submitting JMC report, which will also be filled by the agency along with the engineer. Its monitoring will be done from the headquarters level.
Shri Pal directed the engineers to establish better coordination at the regional and local level for effective monitoring and implementation of these schemes. He said that the aim of these schemes is to strengthen the agriculture sector of the state and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the farmers. Hence, it should be ensured that all the works are completed within the stipulated time frame and as per the prescribed standards.
At the end of the meeting, Shri Pal called upon the officers to play an active role in making these schemes successful so that the farmers of the state can get maximum benefit.
