Haryana Government has decided to provide electricity connections even in irregular colonies of the State. Announcing this, the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said: “Getting an adequate supply of water and electricity is a fundamental right of any citizen. Therefore, for the convenience of the citizens, it has been decided to provide electricity connections even in irregular colonies.”
“Citizens will only have to apply for the connection, no other document will be asked from them and the power connection will be issued to them in about one month,” said Khattar, presiding over an important meeting with the Power Department.
The Chief Minister directed the officers concerned that a scheme to voluntarily disclose the power load for agricultural tubewells launched in 2018 should be restarted for the farmers. “If a farmer wants to install a bigger motor, he will now have to disclose a voluntary load, after which the load will be increased. Now, the farmers will not face any difficulty in increasing their power load,” he added.
He said that the farmers should be motivated to adopt micro-irrigation schemes. That’s why planning needs to be done in the interest of farmers. Solar energy and micro irrigation should be promoted, added the Chief Minister.
He said that a call centre or helpline number should be started for the release of new connections. As soon as the consumer applies for the connection, a message should be immediately sent to his registered mobile on which day he will get the connection and metre, added Khattar.
The Chief Minister said that ‘Bijli Panchayats’ should be held to resolve the electricity-related complaints of the consumers. Errors in electricity bills and other complaints should be resolved in these Panchayats.
In a major relief to the defaulting power consumers having annual income of less than Rs one lakh, Khattar announced that all such families, who have been declared as power defaulters or whose power connections have been disconnected, will get a complete wave off on their penalty amount.
“Irrespective of the default amount, such consumers will not have to pay more than the average bill of only one year, even if their bill is pending for 10 years. Such families will have to pay a maximum of Rs 3600 only for consumption on an average of 150 units per month. Out of the Rs 3600, the consumers will have to make a payment of 25 percent for the re-issuance of the power connections,” said Khattar, who was accompanied by the state Energy Minister Ranjit Singh.