Chandigarh, January 2, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Punjab unit President and Member of Parliament (MP) from Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann, alleged that high power tariff was an issue of grave concern for a common consumer in the state while those at the helms of affairs were concerned more about the high-powered electricity mafia and private players rather than the common consumers facing the heat of the exorbitant tariff.
The AAP MP, referring to the recent NITI reports, said that the situation had assumed alarming proportions in the state of Punjab, the biggest contributor to the nation’s food reserves, had slipped to 12th place among 37 states and union territories in the country.
He added that the people in the state, who were waging a grim battle with fiscal hardships, had been left to shuttle between officers and administration to foot their hefty electricity bills on installments, holding the Captain Amarinder Singh and Sukhbir Singh Badal deadly duo for the mess, which was offering protection electricity mafia.
Exhorting people of the state to unite to fight such maverick monarchs, Mann said the AAP sponsored ‘Bijli Morcha’ was not a mere movement but a mount to reach out every household in the state facing the heat, saying that every small, marginal and other category of consumers were left to face the heat.
The Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, taking strong exception to the proposed hike in electricity charges by Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (Powercom) by 12 to 14 per cent during the year 2020-21, said that it should mull over reducing the electricity rate instead of hiking it.
Mann said that Powercom was reported to have put across its financial requirement/ expenses at Rs 36, 150 crore during the current financial year while current electricity fare at Rs 32, 700 crore, saying that difference amounting to Rs 3450 crore would be realized from the common consumer by raising electricity tariff by 12 to 14 per cent, which, Mann said, would not be tolerated at any cost.
