Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Electrification of Villages, 20/03/2017. As reported by States, there were 18,452 un-electrified villages in the country, as on 1st April, 2015. Out of these 12,364 villages have been electrified, as on 28.02.2017. The State-wise names of un-electrified villages including those in Odisha and Uttarakhand is available at http://garv.gov.in/dashboard/ue. State-wise number of un-electrified villages is furnished at Annexure-I.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Electrification of Backward and Remote Areas of the Country, 20/03/2017. During the financial year 2014-15, Government of India approved Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) with a total investment of Rs. 43033 crore. Under Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) component of DDUGJY, access to electricity is provided to un-electrified villages/habitations including backward and remote areas, where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective by using renewable sources such as biomass, biofuels, biogas, Mini hydro, solar etc.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Availability of clean drinking water in rural and urban areas, 20/03/2017. Under AMRUT, the Centre approves the State Annual Action plans (SAAPs) submitted by the States. The State Governments concerned are empowered to prepare, appraise and approve the Detailed Projects Reports (DPRS) for individual projects and thereafter implement the projects. Details of proposals approved under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) under SAAP for 2015-16, 2016-17 and 3rd and final SAAP for water supply projects are at annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on MGNREGS and Poverty Eradication, 16/03/2017. State/UT-wise estimated percentage of rural men and women working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) are at Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Hydro Power Projects in Backward Areas, 16/03/2017. Presently, 44 Hydro-Electric Projects (HEPs) (above 25 MW) with total installed capacity of 11,993.5 MW are under construction in the country. Out of these 44 HEPs, 21 HEPs aggregating to 6429 MW are stalled / stressed due to various reasons. The state-wise details of such HEPs vis-à-vis the reasons for delay in commissioning are given at Annex.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Fluorides in Ground Water, 16/03/2017. State-wise number of fluoride affected habitations ( more than permissible level prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking water) as reported by the States into Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry as on 10th March, 2017 is at Annexure-I.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Employment under MGNREGS, 16/03/2017. State/UT-wise details of households demanded employment, households provided employment, households provided 100 days of employment and average days per household under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme during the last year and current year 2016-17 (as on 10.03.2017) is at Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Contaminated Drinking Water, 16/03/2017. It is a fact that as per the 23rd report of the Standing Committee of Rural Development, there were 3.42 lakh partially covered habitations (receiving inadequate drinking water) and 59,881 water quality affected habitations as per the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) data as on 17/3/2016. This data is dynamic in nature and as per IMIS data as on 10/3/2017, there are now 3.30 lakh partially covered habitations and 64,094 water quality affected habitations.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Villages in Forest Areas, 14/03/2017. As reported by States, in respect of tiger reserves, villages located in core/critical tiger habitat was 751. However, number of villages located in protected forest areas other than Tiger Reserves are not compiled in the Ministry. Details of villages relocated outside from Tiger Reserve/Wildlife sanctuaries are given in the Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Tiger Population, 14/03/2017. The country level tiger estimation using the refined methodology is done once in four years. As per the assessment of the Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey, 2014 using the refined methodology, the tiger number has shown 30% increase countrywide with an estimated number of 2226 (range 1945-2491) as compared to 2010 estimation of 1706 (range 1520-1909 tigers). The details of tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country for the years 2010 and 2014 are at Annexure-I.