BJP legislator raises question in Dogri
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 9: A piquant situation emerged in the Legislative Assembly when BJP MLA from Billawar Satish Sharma raised supplementary to his question in Dogri during Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly today.
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Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather told the MLA that nothing is being recorded.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds charge of the Power Department, and had given written reply to the question, said if purpose of the MLA is to seek answer, he can’t understand the language fully but if his purpose is to get the video made, it has been achieved.
Satish then changed his tone and asked the supplementary in Hindi saying reply to the question was similar to the one given to him on March 4, 2025.
Omar said that with rising population, expansion of villages and new habitations coming up, it will take time, but the Government is committed to reaching every household and providing electricity.
“The population is increasing, villages are spreading, and new houses are being built. Electrifying them is not a matter of one day. It takes time for DPRs to be prepared. There is no village which is completely un-electrified. However, in some villages, certain habitations or parts remain without electricity and they need to be electrified,” he said.
He said that electrification is being carried out through Centrally Sponsored Schemes as well as under the UT CAPEX programme. “This is an ongoing process. The DPRs for the areas named by the MLA are also being prepared. Every effort will be made to ensure that there is no house without an electricity connection, but this process will continue,” he added.
Omar further informed that some rural and remote habitations/morhas – not entire villages – such as Thingnen, Kanodi and Hanok of Panchayat Madoon/Dehota in Billawar area remain un-electrified or partially electrified.
“Expansion of habitations in remote areas is a continuous process, which requires extension of the LT network at regular intervals,” he said.
He stated that these un-electrified households under the jurisdiction of JPDCL Electric Division Kathua were proposed for electrification under the DA-JGUA scheme. Electrification of most of the un-electrified households has been approved under the scheme and is being executed through JPDCL Project Division, Jammu.
However, some habitations like Thingnen, Kanodi and Hanok were dropped from the final sanctioned DPR of the DA-JGUA scheme due to cost escalation of the work.
Responding to another part of the question, the Chief Minister said that all villages in Jammu Division of J&K are electrified, either through On-grid or Off-grid mode. “No village as a whole remains un-electrified. However, some habitations/morhas/ households that have recently come up are still without electricity. Efforts are underway to electrify these un-electrified or partially electrified habitations under centrally sponsored scheme DA-JGUA and UT Capex,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that DPRs for habitations like Thingnen, Kanodi and Hanok of Panchayat Madoon/Dehota are currently being prepared.
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