The State Government might be initiating ways and means to discipline power defaulters and make them pay arrears, but ironically, it itself is the single largest dafualter in the country as far as power bill arrears are concerned.
Believe it or not, the UP Government has an outstanding arrear of Rs 10,323 crores that it has to pay UP Power Corporation limited (UPPCl).
During the first six months of the current fiscal till September, 2017, the State Government just forgot to make payments to UPPCl as a result of which arrears of Government departments further increased by Rs 1,420 crores.
The arrear figures were disclosed during the annual meeting of Uday (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna) Monitoring Committee in New Delhi on January 12 last.
Sources in lucknow on Monday said, that the power dues of Government departments were the highest among eight States. After UP, the second highest is that of Maharashtra Govrnment, where the dues are of Rs 4,650 crores. The total Government department dues of power in these eight States amounts to Rs 34,523 crores.
Meanwhile on Monday, a UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad office bearer alleged that the huge arrear shows that the State Government and its agencies were least concerned for the power sector and the consumers, particularly farmers, were made to pay from their nose for huge losses suffered by UPPCl every year.
“When the Power department disconnects connection even on pending dues of a few thousand rupees of a poor consumer, then why have they not acted in case of Government departments. It only exposes the double standard of Power department,” he said.