POWER DUES: ENERGY MINISTER SEEKS LAWMAKERS’ HELP

LUCKNOW : Energy minister Shrikant Sharma on Sunday wrote a letter to all MLAs, MPs, ministers and village pradhans, enlisting their cooperation in the campaign for recovery of power dues from consumers.

In his letter, the minister has also shared the UP Power Corporation Ltd’s (UPPCL) decision to further extend the last date for termination of the ongoing ‘Aasan Kist’ and ‘Kisan Aasan Kist Yojana’ till March 31. “As you know, it is the state government’s priority to provide 24x7 electricity to people.

But this is possible only when consumers pay their monthly power bills regularly,” Sharma said in his letter.

“The current per unit power production cost in the state is Rs 7.35 whereas private tubells, BPL and unmetered rural domestic consumers are provided subsidized power for Rs 1.21 per unit, Rs 3 per unit and Rs 3.35 per unit, respectively,” he added stressing the need for timely payment of bills. He said people could pay their bills in easy installments without having to pay any surcharge by availing the ongoing ‘Aasan Kist Yojana meant for domestic consumers using load up to 4 kw and the ‘Kisan Aasan Kist Yojana’ for private tube wells.

“The last date for registration for the two schemes had been extended till March 31,” Sharma said, urging people’s representatives to encourage consumers in their areas to avail the schemes to clear their pending dues. Sources said around Rs 8,000 core power dues were pending against farmers’ private tube wells alone.