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| Inhuman face of Govt: Power supply of poor families snapped; no action against influential defaulters | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 15: Protest by the residents of Qasim Nagar locality against exorbitant power bills is an indication that instead of recovering huge power tariffs from politicians and other influential persons, the Jammu and Kashmir government is hellbent to harass poor people in the name of power reforms.
Already poor daily wagers and need base workers in the Power Development Department are bearing brunt of the anti-workers policies of the present regime, now this dispensation has started harassing lower-middle-class families in the name of recovering pending power tariff.
Qasim Nagar and its adjoining Rajiv Nagar localities are inhabited by Below Poverty Line (BPL) or lower-middle-class families who earned their livelihood by doing petty jobs like maids and helpers on posh localities like Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony, and Gandhi Nagar.
Most of the people of such localities are not getting regular jobs due to three successive waves of deadly Coronavirus. Instead of giving some relief to these poor families, the J&K government has snapped their power connection because these helpless families have failed to pay whooping bills which have been served to these families.
During the protest, a widow handicapped lady Garu Devi showed a power bill worth Rs 88,845 which was submitted to her by the department.
“How can I pay this whopping amount?”, the helpless lady asked and regretted that during the last two years they are facing hardship due to pandemic but the brutal J&K government is not ready to listen to their grievances.
Recently it was revealed in an RTI reply that influential persons including politicians in Jammu and Kashmir, including former ministers and MLAs, owe power dues to the tune of lakhs to the Power Development Department (PDD).
The former ministers and legislators were provided official accommodations with a 24-hour power supply after the PDP-BJP coalition government came to power on March 1, 2015. Though the state is now under President’s rule, the bills of these politicians have not yet been cleared. |
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