 bill no  141 of  2014 the rural electrification bill, 2014 bydr bhola singh, mp a billto provide for the constitution of a rural electrification authority to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to farmers for their agricultural activities and at least one single point light connection to every household in rural areas and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fifth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the rural electrification act, 2014short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(b) "electricity" means electric energy generated, transmitted, supplied or traded for any purpose except the transmission of a message; and(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act53 (1) the central government shall constitute an authority to be known as the rural electrification authority having its headquarters at mumbai in the state of maharashtraconstitution of rural electrification authority(2) the authority shall consist of five members to be appointed by the central government of whom at least two members shall be from amongst the farmers to be nominated by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed10(3) the central government shall appoint one of the members as the chairperson of the authority(4) the chairperson and other members of the authority shall hold office during the pleasure of the central government(5) the salary, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and other members of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed15(6) the authority may appoint a secretary and such other officers and employees as it considers necessary for the performance of its functions under this act and on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed4 (1) the authority shall,—(i) develop a sound, adequate and uniform national policy in order to provide,—functions and duties of the authority20(a) uninterrupted power supply to the farmers for irrigation and other agricultural purposes;(b) uninterrupted power supply to the village and cottage industries and village artisans engaged in self-employment in villages; and25(c) at least one single point connection of electricity in every dwelling unit of each village in the country (ii) establish new power generating stations in such areas as it may consider necessary;(iii) invite and encourage private sector in establishing power units exclusively for the rural areas in the country;30(iv) carry out surveys and to collect and record data concerning the generation, distribution and utilisation of power in the rural sector and the development of power resources in the rural areas;(v) co-ordinate the activities of the national and state planning agencies in relation to the control and utilisation of power resources for the rural sector; and35(vi) perform such other functions and duties as the central government may, from time to time, prescribe or direct (2) without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the authority may also provide for—40(i) supply of electricity to the farmers at such subsidised rates, as may be prescribed, from time to time; and(ii) single point light connection and supply of electricity free of cost to thedwelling units of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in rural areas455 (1) the authority shall constitute  a fund to be known as the rural electricity development fundrural electricity development fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(3) there shall also be credited to the fund such other sums as may be received by the authority by way of donation, contribution, assistance or otherwise5(4) all payments by the authority towards rural electrification expenditure and forits administrative expenditure shall be made from the fund6 the central government shall,  from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf,  provide adequate funds for the rural electrification works to be undertaken by the authoritycentral government to provide funds107 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in forceprovisions to be in additionto and not inderogation of any otheractpower tomake rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act15 20(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsthere is an acute shortage of power in our country which is the primary cause of our backwardness as a result of power shortage, both the industrial sector and the agricultural sector cannot make progress at the desired levels resulting ultimately in backwardness our power stations, whether thermal, hydel or atomic, are generating electricity much below their capacity whereas the demand for electricity is increasing day-by-day in all the sectors it has been observed that while distributing the generated electricity, the electricity boards and undertakings give priority to the urban areas and the industrial sector thereby neglecting the rural areas particularly the agricultural sector very often it has been seen that the electricity meant for rural areas is diverted to the urban areas hue and cry is raised by the people and by the print and the electronic media if there is a load shedding for a few hours in the cities but nobody bothers when the electricity is cut off in the rural areas for months together even if the crops of the hapless farmers are dying in the absence of water as farmers cannot run the tubewell without electricity since more than seventy-five per cent of our population is engaged in agriculture and agriculture-based small and cottage industries, it is our duty to give uninterrupted electricity supply to the agricultural sector it is also necessary to provide at least one point electric connection to every household including every hut in the country to remove the darkness prevailing there to achieve these objectives, it is proposed to constitute a rural electrification authority to provide electricity exclusively to the rural areas and uninterrupted electricity supply to the agricultural sector and give at least single point light connection to every household in the villageshence this billnew delhi;bhola singhnovember 5, 2014 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution  of the rural electrification authorityclause 4 provides, inter alia, that authority shall establish power stations and provide at least one power connection to every rural household clause 5 provides for constitution of a rural electricity development fund clause 6 provides that central government shall provide adequate funds to the authority the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring annual expenditure of rupees five hundred crore will be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 8 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to the matters of detail only the delegation of legislative power, therefore, is of a normal character lok sabha————— a billto provide for the constitution of a rural electrification authority to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to farmers for their agricultural activities and at least one single point light connection to every household in rural areas and for matters connected therewith—————(dr bhola singh, mp)gmgipmrnd—2717ls(s3)—02-12-2014