Abdul Majid Early Times Report Srinagar, July 28: People of J&K, who are waiting for some 'Achhe din', will have to pay through the nose for electricity, as the PDP-BJP government has decided to increase the tariff by 300%. The Power Development Department (PDD) officials have been directed to meet the targets, and till then their annual increments would be withheld. Officials said the domestic consumers of Jammu-around 6.5 lakh connections-on an average pay Rs 280 as monthly fee. But to meet the Rs 2,000 crore target kept for Jammu, every consumer will have to pay around Rs 1000 monthly. In the Valley, an average consumer pays Rs 350 per month. After the revised targets the tariff would be around Rs 1200. The government has issued formal orders directing officials to act or face the music. "The position of revenue collection is quite dismissal, as of now only 8% to 10 % of targets for 2015-16 have been achieved in respect of EMRE Wing Kashmir/Jammu. All Superintending Engineers/Executive Engineers and the Sub-Divisional officers are showing very poor performance and have not improved revenue realization despite repeated instructions issued from time to time," reads the orders issued by Director Finance vide number PDD/II/AC/13/2015 dated July 27, a copy which is with Early Times. "As per the decision taken in the meeting under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister on 18th and 19th of May, it was decided that both Chief Engineers of EMR&E Wings shall not release the annual increment for 7/2015 of those officers/officials who are trailing in respect of achieving targets and AT&C losses," it added. "In this connection your are requested to issue instructions to the Chief Engineer EMRE Wing Kashmir and Jammu not to release the annual increment of concerned officers who are trailing in achieving revenue targets and AT&C losses." PDD officials said they are left with no options but to hike the basic agreement of the domestic consumers by around 300%. Explaining their point, the officials said if they don't go for hike in basic agreement it would tell upon their performance in the service book. "We can't play with our own livelihood and will have to hike the agreement to meet the targets," said an official in PDD Jammu. About the Valley, the officials said of the 8,00,000 odd power connections, 7,00,000 were domestic. Other categories, mostly commercial, amount to 1,00,000 consumers, a mere 20%. "Eighty percent of the power consumption in the Valley is from domestic consumers, so they have to be our main targets to get more fee," said a senior official asking not to be identified. Explaining his point, the official said that average consumer in the Valley pays Rs 350 per month which as per the revised targets has to grow manifold. "Under the revised agreement the average consumer will have to pay Rs 1200 per month. This is apart from the urban consumers who pay Rs 2000 per month," the official added. A senior PDD official in the Civil Secretariat defended the government decision. "Revenues have to go up come what may, people can't have excuses all the times," he said. |