Residents of Nakkia Nadolia hold protest against inflated power bills

Excelsior Correspondent

KATHUA, Oct 3: Expressing concern over the sharp rise in electricity bills, the residents of Nakkia Nadolia near here held a protest demonstration in the area, alleging that soaring power bills have put an additional financial burden on poor, labourers and daily-wage workers. The protesters questioned the Government over the impact of the revised billing and smart-metering system on economically weaker households.

Speaking to the media, one of the protesters said that his electricity bill for the previous month had amounted to Rs 3,000. He said that after approaching the concerned officials and requesting a reduction, the bill was brought down to Rs 1,500, which he subsequently deposited. He said that poor and daily-wage families were already struggling to meet their basic needs and could not afford hefty electricity bills. "Earlier, electricity bills used to be around Rs 800, Rs 1,200 or Rs 1,500, but now bills of around Rs 3,000 are being received," he said, adding that some consumers were allegedly receiving bills running into Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and even Rs 2-3 lakh.

Questioning the Government's arrangements for economically weaker sections, the protester said that many labourers and daily-wage workers were already facing financial difficulties. He also raised concern over the smart-metering system, claiming that the new billing mechanism had added to the difficulties being faced by consumers. He said the Government should introduce a mechanism to provide relief to poor and financially vulnerable families, particularly those struggling with medical and other household expenses.

SK Bandari, urged the Jammu and Kashmir Government not to impose an excessive financial burden on poor and labouring families. He said that if the Government could not provide employment to every household, it should at least ensure that economically weaker sections were not further burdened by high electricity bills.

Bandari also questioned the Government over the issue of power disconnections and challenged the authorities to demonstrate how they intended to address the concerns of financially weaker consumers. He called for measures to protect poor families from what he described as an increasing burden of electricity charges.