The Hindu : New Delhi News : MLAs seek power tariff hike rollback

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

MLAs seek power tariff hike rollback

Staff Reporter

Congress and BJP legislators join hands on the issue

NEW DELHI: The latest increase in power tariffs in the Capital saw elected representatives from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress come together to voice their protests in this regard at the Rural Development Board meeting here on Tuesday. They demanded immediate rollback of the 20 per cent increase for farmers. The members were also critical of the manner in which funds had been left unspent for various projects despite clear directions in the past.

As the agenda of the meeting, headed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, was about to come to an end, BJP legislators Vijay Jolly and Kulwant Rana, along with the Congress legislators Mukesh Sharma and Vijay Lochav and the Nationalist Congress Party's lone member, Ramvir Bidhuri, raised the issue of power tariff hike, especially for farmers. They pointed out that a huge financial burden was being put on the farmers who had been loaded with a 20 per cent hike and this should be withdrawn.

Mr. Jolly protested against the overall hike for all categories of consumers and said the Congress party's image of protecting the interests of farmers had taken a beating as the farmers were the worst hit by the power hike.

His colleague and Shahbad Daulatpur MLA, Kulwant Rana, who termed the Congress as anti-poor and anti-farmer, joined him. It is learnt that Mr. Mukesh Sharma expressed concern over the tariff hike for farmers and urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter. He also reportedly pointed out that while in Haryana, the Congress Government had waived off Rs. 1,400 crores dues of the farmers, the Delhi Government was burdening them with a massive hike. The Rural Development Board chairman, Sajjan Kumar, watched the entire scene quietly as other members dominated the proceedings.

The sharp differences between the Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi also got reflected at the meeting with the Chief Minister expressing displeasure with the working of the Corporation. Ms. Dikshit said a lot many projects were not being completed or taken up by the Corporation with large funds being left unspent from the MLA Constituency Development Fund. Finance Minister A. K. Walia supported her. Expressing dissatisfaction with the working of MCD Commissioner Rakesh Mehta, the Finance Minister said the former had the habit of giving assurances but not living up to them.

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