Punjab Cabinet waives power dues of defaulters

Chandigarh, September 29

The Punjab Government today decided to waive pending power bills of all defaulters having load up to 2 KW, putting a burden of approximately Rs 1,200 crore on the exchequer. About 80 per cent of the power consumers in the state would be covered by the decision.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Charanjit Singh Channi, who said consumers whose connections had been disconnected would benefit. The announcement comes days after AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal promised 300 units of free power per month to each household in the state. Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been pitching for providing up to 300 units of free power and round-the-clock supply to all consumers.

Let’s talk it out: CM

I’ve invited him (Sidhu) to sit and talk. —Punjab Chief minister

Channi said of the total 72 lakh domestic connections in Punjab, 53 lakh had power load up to 2 KW. “About 55,000 to 1 lakh connections had been snapped. Instructions have been passed to restore all of these. A fee of Rs 1,500 for restoring connection has also been waived,” he said.

The CM said a new policy to counter sand mafia was also on the anvil. The government is deliberating allowing free mining of sand by landowners to abolish the contract system. The aim is to ensure sand availability to consumers at affordable rates. — TNS