Demanding complete rollback of the 2.2 percent power hike announced a day before, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday condemned the “unbearable and inhuman burden” put on the common man with repeated hikes in power tariff.
The party also demanded to remove all hidden charges to ensure power to industrial sector at landing cost of Rs five per unit.
“The latest increase of 2.17 percent in domestic power and an increase in fixed charges by Rs 10 per kilowatt would break the back of common man who was still reeling under the burden of huge increase in electricity bills ever since the Congress government took up the reins of the State,” said the former minister and senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia.
He said that even in the case of industrial sector, the Congress government had gone in for a two percent increase in power tariff besides increasing fixed charges by Rs 10 to Rs 15 per unit. “This proves that the Congress has systematically lied and deceived the industrial sector by making promises to supply power at flat cost of Rs five per unit,” he added.
Majithia said that the latest increase, coupled with repeated increases in power tariff and electricity duties, had resulted in a 15 to 18 percent increase in domestic power tariff in the last one year.
He said SAD would fight against the imposition of “these inhuman taxes” tooth and nail and would come out with an agitation programme soon.