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The Prime Minister said that having an adequate supply of water and electricity is a basic right of any citizen. (pic/pti file)
Manohar Lal Khattar said that all those families whose electrical connections were cut will get a full waiver of the fine amount. It appears that this step targets the House of Representatives and Assembly elections next year
In what is seen as a populist move targeting next year’s Lok Sabha polls and the House of Representatives, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday announced an exemption from penalty for energy consumers with an annual income of less than 1 rupee. Khattar said that all these families whose electrical connections were cut off will get a full waiver of the fine amount.
“Regardless of the default amount, these consumers will not have to pay more than the average bill for one year, even if their bill has been pending for more than a year. These families will have to pay a maximum amount of Rs 3,600 for consumption at the rate of 150 units per month. Out of 3,600 Rs, consumers will have to pay 25 percent for the reissue of power connections,” Khattar said while presiding over a meeting with the Department of Energy on Friday. Energy Minister Ranjit Singh was also present.
The prime minister said that having an adequate supply of water and electricity is a basic right of any citizen. Therefore, for the convenience of citizens, it was decided to provide electricity connections even in irregular colonies. “Citizens will only have to apply for the connection, no other document will be sought from them and the power connection will be issued to them within about a month,” Khattar said.
The prime minister also directed the concerned officers to restart a plan to voluntarily disclose the power load of the agricultural tube wells that were launched in 2018 to farmers.
“If a farmer wants to install a larger engine, he will now have to disclose the optional load, after which the load will be increased. Now farmers will not have any difficulty in increasing their power load,” Khattar said.
Chief State Power Utilities PK Das said, “This scheme is for the poorest of the poor. There are two conditions for eligibility. The first is that the family’s income must be less than Rs 1 lakh and the second is average consumption of 150 units per month.”
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