KOLKATA, 16 JAN: In spite of the allegations of non-performance and corruption in Trinamul Congress-led Zilla Parishad, Trinamul Congress leaders are not worried. They are, in fact, confident that they would win the hearts of the rural people with the distribution of electricity in several villages by March this year. The Zilla Parishad members admitted that rural electrification would be one of the prime issues in the upcoming panchayat election to be held next year. The district administrative officers said that the Zilla Parishad had spent Rs 177 crore sanctioned by the Centre under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme. The sum was utilised for installation of electric poles, distribution of electric meters and installation of electric lines at the residences of people who are BPL card holders. Mr Arabindo Pramanik, karmadhakshya, Zilla Parishad had admitted that 60 per cent work was completed by the district administration and WBSEDCL. "Mr CM Jatua, the minister for information and broadcasting, spoke to the ministers and officers of the Central government to sanction the sum. We hoped to distribute electricity among 14 lakh people in 1,457 villages,” he said. District Trinamul leaders admitted that the distribution of electricity is significant as it may prevent illegal hooking of power in the rural belt. The anti-hooking campaign, led by the officers of WBSEDCL, had strengthened the support base of the CPI-M in the villages. The situation became worse while two women, including a teenage girl, died in police firing during an anti-hooking raid at Magrahat in Diamond Harbour last month. Mrs Samima Shek, the sabadhipati, said: “Apart from two blocks (Gosaba and Sagar), ZP and WBSEDCL would distribute electricity among the poor people of all the 27 blocks free of cost. It would reduce the propensity to tap electricity in the rural areas.” Moreover, conventional power is used in Gosaba and Sagar Islands nowadays. The power would be distributed widely among the people in the next phases. Sk Alam Laskar, the Opposition leader and a CPI-M member of ZP, alleged that the power distribution project would fail as the government had no plan to generate power by expansion of power stations in the state.