IEP Chandigarh, June 23
In a major relief to the defaulting power consumers having annual income of less than Rs. 1 lakh, Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal announced that all such families, who have been declared as power defaulters or whose power connections have been disconnected will get a complete wave off on their penalty amount.“Irrespective of the default amount, such consumers will not have to pay more than the average bill of only one year, even if their bill is pending for 10 years. Such families will have to pay a maximum of Rs 3600 only for consumption on an average of 150 units per month. Out of the Rs. 3600, the consumers will have to make a payment of 25 percent for the re-issuance of the power connections,” said Sh. Manohar Lal while presiding over an important meeting with the Power Department held here today.Energy Minister, Sh. Ranjit Singh also remained present in the meeting.Sh. Manohar Lal said that getting an adequate supply of water and electricity is a fundamental right of any citizen. Therefore, for the convenience of the citizens, it has been decided to provide electricity connections even in irregular colonies. Citizens will only have to apply for the connection, no other document will be asked from them and the power connection will be issued to them in about 1 month, said the Chief Minister.The Chief Minister directed the officers concerned that a scheme to voluntarily disclose the power load for agricultural tubewells launched in the year 2018 should be restarted for the farmers. If a farmer wants to install a bigger motor, he will now have to disclose a voluntary load, after which the load will be increased. Now the farmers will not face any difficulty in increasing their power load, said Sh. Manohar Lal.He said that farmers should be motivated to adopt micro-irrigation schemes. That’s why planning needs to be done in the interest of farmers. Solar energy and micro irrigation should be promoted, added the Chief Minister.He said that a call centre or helpline number should be started for the release of new connections. As soon as the consumer applies for the connection, a message should be immediately sent to his registered mobile on which day he will get the connection and metre, added Sh. Manohar Lal.The Chief Minister said that ‘Bijli Panchayats’ should be held to resolve the electricity-related complaints of the consumers. Errors in electricity bills and other complaints should be resolved in these Panchayats.Additional Chief Secretary, Power Department, Sh. A.K Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh V. Umashankar, Chairman, Power DISCOMS, Sh. P.K. Das, Managing Director, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, Mohammed Shayin, Managing Director, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, Sh. Amit Khatri and other officers also remained present in the meeting.
