Impact: Combatting Corruption
Channel: VideoVolunteers
Date: 06/05/2015

In 2005 the government of India set up ambitious plans to bring electricity to about 1,25,000 villages through the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme. In the ten years since, the crores of rupees spent to bring basic infrastructure to rural areas has had an impact. However 44.7% rural household in India still don’t have access to electricity. Low-level corruption and the lack of decentralised electricity grids are among the most common bottlenecks in the implementation of this scheme. Through a video made in June 2014, Correspondent Shanti Baraik uncovered a case of corruption in Ichagutu, a village in the Naxal insurgency affected district of Gumla, Jharkhand. Her efforts resulted in the village getting electricity and in cancelling fake bills they had been receiving till then.

In 2012, electricity poles and some wires were installed in the village, which until now had seen the night through the eyes of kerosene lamps. The anticipation of the village’s 50 households eventually came to naught, as the contractor never supplied a transformer. A 2014 evaluation report of the scheme points out that this incident was a regular one, that in many villages, wires were installed but were never connected to a grid. In this case, there was something more in the mix.

The contractor had asked people to pay INR 10,000 for the transformer and villagers even started collecting the money for it. People were willing to contribute up to INR 200, as they were unaware of their own rights. It was a matter of chance that someone contacted Shanti to confirm whether or not they should pay. “Absolutely not,” was the answer Shanti gave. 

The infrastructure under the rural electrification scheme is provided entirely free of cost. While families that live above the poverty line have to pay a nominal fee (usually INR 400) to get a meter, those living below the poverty line have to pay no money. The bills for the latter are further subsidised. 

The problems for Ichagutu’s residents, where a majority live below the poverty line, had only started with the installation of electricity poles. AlmiSurin, a septuagenarian was one of the first people to receive a bill of INR 857. The delivery of more bills left the residents of the area baffled and angry.

Read the full article at: http://www.videovolunteers.org/impact-combatting-corruption/