Palakkad will be marked on the country’s map as the first totally electrified district at a function to be inaugurated by Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde at Ottappalm on February 16.
The public meeting in this connection will be inaugurated by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan. Electricity Minister A.K. Balan, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran, Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph, Transport Minister Jose Thettayil, Local Administration Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty and Water Resources Minister M.K. Premachandran will attend the function.
The total electrification programme comes as a bonanza to a large number of tribes who live in remote forest areas in the district where drawing power lines is almost impossible. The Kerala State Electricity Board has drawn 12-km-long power lines to provide electricity to the tribal hamlets.
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The programme helps to provide uninterrupted power supply to the Kanjikode industrial belt and the proposed rail coach factory at Kanjikode, an official release said here on Friday.