Withdraw hike in electricity rates: Hooda
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has raised the demand to withdraw the increase in electricity rates stating that the BJP government had hiked these by four times in one go.
“Common families who had to pay bills of Rs 900 to Rs 1,000, are now being given bills of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. On the one hand, people are suffering due to long power cuts in intense heat, on the other, they are burdened from inflation ever since the BJP came to power. There is chaos in Haryana due to lack of electricity and water basic facilities,” Hooda pointed out.
He said due to the high electricity rates, people had started getting huge bills. “The corporation has also added a fixed charge of Rs 75 per kilowatt to it. Now, Rs 750 extra has to be paid every month for a 10 kilowatt connection. Earlier, the rates were slab wise, that is, for 50 units or more, the cost per unit was Rs 2.50 to Rs 6.30. Now, for more than 5 kilowatts of load, Rs 6.50 to Rs 7.50 per unit is being charged,” he stated.
Apart from this, Hooda said, the slab wise electricity rates had also increased by 20 to 40 paise per unit. Not only this, the slabs made for different categories had also been changed. The increased electricity rates have been quietly implemented from April 1.
Hooda said during the Congress tenure, four new power plants and one nuclear power plant were established in the state, whereas not even a single unit of electricity was generated during the BJP rule. Despite this, this government has been continuously increasing the electricity rates for the last 10 years.
"During the Congress tenure, electricity bills worth Rs 1600 crore of common consumers were waived, but instead of giving any such relief, the BJP government is busy cutting people’s pockets by adding unnecessary charges along with the rate hike. The BJP is repeatedly making people realize that they have made a mistake by voting for BJP," Hooda added.
Haryana Tribune