Bengal urged to impose moratorium on power bills

KOLKATA: The Centre on Thursday asked the West Bengal government to impose moratorium on the electricity bills for uninterrupted tele connectivity.

The report said that stateowned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has failed to clear electric bills worth Rs 45 crore. As a result, the lines can be disconnected for non-payment of the bills.

In a letter to state Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Union minister for communication and electronic and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that the moratorium should be imposed till March 31.

Prasad in his letter said that BSNL has 23,000 wireless exchanges in the rural belt. If the power is snapped then tele communications will be badly hit particularly in the remote areas where BSNL is the only source of tele communication.

The dues will be paid after 2020 March in four installments. The Centre has also urged to waive the interest and penalty.

Earlier, the Ministry officials had requested the state Chief Secretary, Rajiva Sinha, in the matter. As the state government did not respond to the letter, Prasad has written to Mamata Banerjee seeking her intervention.

Observers felt that the Centre's request to impose moratorium is due to the poor financial condition of BSNL.

The BSNL has introduced voluntary retirement scheme for its employees.

The employees are not getting their salaries for the past one year.

The Centre has proposed to prepare a revival package worth Rs 40,000 crore. Under such a situation it will be difficult to pay the dues, Prasad mentioned in his letter.