Test check finds solar lights non-functional

PATNA: If the test check undertaken in a panchayat of a block in Saran district is representative of the fate of solar lights scheme undertaken in different parts of the state, then the scheme is a total flop. This came to light in course of hearing of a case by the State Information Commission (SIC).
Going by the test check report, solar lights seem to have failed to light up the habitats, thanks to corruption at the local level.The lights' batteries were found being used for personal purposes instead of lighting up the village in the test case.
On the orders of the SIC, an inquiry was conducted by the Saran DM in Kakarhat panchayat under Daryapur block and all sorts of irregularities came to light. In seven villages of that panchayat, solar lights had been installed at a cost of Rs 17.17 lakh, with each solar light costing Rs 39,500. The probe was made following an order passed by information commissioner Farzand Ahmed pursuant to a plea by RTI activist Nand Kishore Sharma.
Initially, the BDO of Daryapur block informed the RTI activist there was no irregularity in installation of solar lights and everything was in order. Finding the reply unsatisfactory, Sharma, through second appeal, approached the SIC. Ahmed directed the Saran DM to conduct an inquiry in the entire district.
The DM, as a case study, ordered inquiry in one panchayat and its report was submitted to the SIC. The report said most of the solar lights were non-functional, batteries were being used for personal work and even if any solar light was working, it was installed at someone's house. The lights were stolen from some villages, the report said. The SIC closed the case after this report.
In villages across the state, funds to install solar lights had been provided under the Backward Region Grant Fund. In a power-starved state, this facility was meant to light up villages, but corruption at local level frustrated the very purpose of the scheme.
"If this is the situation in one panchayat, one can visualize what would have happened in more than 8,000 panchayats in the state," said Sharma.