In the circular issued recently, the State Department stated that slums on village panchayat, government, municipal and municipal corporation land would be given electricity connections; though it would not mean giving it a legal status.

It, however, added that huts made out of plastic or bamboo and half-made units will not be included in the scheme.

Although some time ago, a circular was issued stating that the slum-dwellers, whose annual incomes were less than Rs 11,000, would be provided individual electricity connections, the hitch had cropped up because one of the circulars in English stated that the connections would be provided only after checking legal status of the unit.

Mayor Bharati Vyas told Express Newsline that she had urged the Government to remove the clause of checking the legal status of the slum units, because a majority of them were illegal, thereby defeating the basic purpose of the scheme.

While in Vadodara an amount to the tune of Rs 24 lakh has been allocated for 1999-2000 for the scheme, about Rs 3 crore would be spent in Gujarat under the scheme.

Each of the beneficiaries will have to spend Rs 100 and the applications will have to be given to the Gujarat Electricity Board through local civic bodies.