Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh on Tuesday said that a target has been set to issue 40,000 agricultural tubewell connections by June 30, 2022 in the state.
“16,000 pending agricultural tubewell connections will also be released soon. A special programme has been prepared to complete the pending backlog of tube well connections, under which the connections will be reviewed every week,” the Minister said while talking to the mediapersons here. He said that division and circle wise, 8 to 10 special teams will be assigned under the programme to issue 2000 to 3000 connections immediately.
The Power Minister informed that so far, 5427 villages are being supplied 24x7 electricity through the 'Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon Yojana' and in the coming one year, every village of the state will be supplied with 24x7 electricity making Haryana the first state in the country to do so.
Giving details of various initiatives of the Department, the Minister said that it has often been seen that about 16 percent of electricity bills are issued incorrectly due to various reasons, whether it is due to lack of meters or due to the house being found closed. To eliminate these errors, these bills will be rectified on the spot by sending a team of officers under a special campaign at block level, he said. If the amount of electricity bill is more, then the consumer can pay these bills by depositing 25 percent of the amount and then pay instalments of the remaining amount, he further said.
The Power Minister said that the Central Government has issued a special package of Rs 3 lakh crore for phase-I and Rs 97,000 crore for phase-II to the states for improvement of power infrastructure. Power sub-stations will be revamped in phase-I, while other infrastructure will be developed in phase-II. I have spoken to Union Power Minister RK Singh and he has assured that Haryana has done better work in power reforms and hence the funds for phase-I and phase-II will be given to the state on priority basis, Singh added.
The Minister also said that the four Power Distribution Corporations of the state have become profitable as a result of the reforms made in the power sector in the last two years. Haryana has emerged as a model before the country in this matter, which was discussed by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a meeting held with the Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers of the states through video conferencing a day before.
The Minister informed that under a special campaign, more than 150 Junior Engineers, Executive Engineers, Superintendent Engineers and Linemen have been chargesheeted.
Show cause notices have been issued to them and on the basis of their replies, they will be suspended or even their services may be terminated, he said.