Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Odisha on Saturday demanded that the accounts of power distribution companies (discoms) operating in the State be audited comprehensively by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
“We feel the tariff on electricity consumers is already high. The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) should reduce it soon,” said AAP member Dhanada Mishra while talking to the reporters here.
Besides tariff reduction, the party demanded universality of electricity supply in a time bound manner. “Only 43 per cent households in the State have electricity facility which is much lower than national level,” Mishra said, adding, “We have to ensure that more and more people of the State should get benefit out of the electricity facility.”
Odisha was the first State to privatise and reform the electricity sector in 1996. However, it has been unfortunate that the sector lags behind as compared to major States of the country. The State does not want to increase capacity by using modern technology in order to get good revenue, the party members alleged.
“If we will come to power, we will bring all the discoms under Government control and will ensure all the facilities,” Mishra said.