Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced on Monday that the government will take care of power bills for the poor, but those who have palatial houses and other expensive gadgets will have to pay power tariff as per their usage.
Sinha made the announcement while addressing a gathering at Mini-Secretariat in Southern district of Kulgam. He said that the government has been providing free electricity to the poor for a long time, but now it is time for those who can afford to pay to start doing so.
“Let me announce today that the government will take care of the poor who can’t afford to pay bills. But those who have palatial houses, I-Phones with 5-G internet data and other gadgets will have to pay power bills as per their usage,” Sinha said.
He also said that the government is working on increasing the generation of local power in J&K. In the next three years, the same amount of power that has been generated in the last 70 years will be produced locally, he said.
Sinha urged people to cooperate with the government in getting the smart meter installation process completed as soon as possible. He said that wherever a feeder is 100 per cent metered, power disruption will not be a problem.
The LG also spoke about the farmers in J&K. He said that the farmers’ income in the state is currently at number 5 across the country, and he is confident that it will soon be number 1.
Sinha’s announcement has been welcomed by many people in J&K. They believe that it is a fair way to distribute the burden of paying for electricity.
However, some people have also expressed concerns about how the government will define who is “poor” and who is not. They are also worried that the government will not be able to enforce the new policy effectively.
Only time will tell how Sinha’s announcement will be implemented and how it will affect the people of J&K.
