2.74 per cent is minimum burden on people, says BJP
Kamal Sharma, Punjab BJP president said the power hike of 2.74% is the minimum burden the Government can put on the people of State. “This hike is lowest in the last seven years since Akali-BJP came into power in the State,” he said. Terming the decision on power hike as satisfactory, Sharma thanked the CM for taking into consideration the opinions by the BJP. He said that since power tariff is an important factor for the urbanites, particularly the industrial community, BJP has taken up the matter with the Punjab CM requesting him to make sure that there is minimum power tariff hike for the current fiscal year. He said the decision a sigh of relief to both domestic and industrial consumers.
More to hike then meets the eye, says Congress
Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa opposed the hike saying the Parkash Singh Badal Government had given this gift to the people within hours after polling was over for the two by-elections. “The cumulative hike in power tariff has been the highest ever since Badal took over as the Chief Minister. Now there is a new element added to the power scenario with the private players having appeared on the scene. There could be more to the hike in power tariff than meets the eyes”, he said. Bajwa said the people in the State would have been saved from this burden by plugging the transmission and distribution losses and the power theft.