Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday participated in a debate with his Goa counterpart Nilesh Cabral on the topic of AAP Government’s model of 24x7 free electricity supplies in the national Capital.
Jain said the Delhi Government wants to give back the taxpayers’ money in the form of free electricity. The debate kicked off with Jain explaining the Delhi model saying that 200 units of electricity are free in Delhi and the rate is halved for consumption up to 400 units. To make this process simpler for the people, 300 units would simply be free for consumers in Goa, he said.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha had challenged Cabral for a debate which the latter said would have been possible had Delhi's power minister come to the State. Following which, Jain accepted the challenge and visited Goa to have the debate.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Jain said that the taxpayers' money should be returned to them via free electricity instead of using it to buy MLAs. “Delhi has been power efficient with free electricity for the past five years and does not use generators and inverters anymore. The AAP government wants to instill a similar model in Goa to ensure that the state does not undergo as many power cuts and to make sure that the common people get free electricity too,” he said.
“The tariffs in Delhi have not increased for the past seven years and we will make sure that it will not increase in Goa for the next five years either,” he added. The Power Minister further talked about the Delhi Government’s efficient management of funds and operating at a budget surplus installed trust in the government. Jain also emphasised that the citizens of Goa are their sole focus and not private companies. “The AAP wants to make the process transparent and promised to waive-off pending electricity bills in a one-time settlement to start on a clean sheet and make sure everybody benefits from it,” he said.