Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu urged the affluent people of the state to voluntarily give up electricity subsidy as a mark of contribution in bringing about reforms in the state to make it self-reliant.
Addressing media persons here on Wednesday, the CM, leading by example himself, announced to wave off his electricity subsidy and urged the well-off consumers to surrender the same so that the benefits reach out to the economically weaker sections of the society.
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He pointed out that the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) will save around Rs 200 crore by this voluntary surrendering of the subsidy. Giving up of subsidiary was not obligatory but optional, he said, adding that those who can afford to pay should surrender the 125 units free electricity.
He said that he has five electricity meters registered in his name at residences which he owns, hence despite being a CM, he was availing 625 units of free electricity, which he felt was not morally right. Discussions had been held earlier to scrap the subsidy for the tax payers, however it has not been implemented.
“The state government has raised Rs 28,000 crore loans in last two-years to repay old loans,” he asserted. Stating that the consumers could forgo the subsidy by filling a form made for the same, he submitted his form to HPSEB Chairman, Sanjay Gupta and urged well-off individuals to follow suit.
He emphasized that affluent citizens with multiple electricity meters should relinquish subsidies to support the development of the state.“The waiving of the subsidies could also be done through the electricity online portal of the board, by calling helpline numbers 1100 or 1912, or by visiting their nearest electricity sub-division,” he said.
The CM said that all Cabinet members and Congress MLAs in the state have agreed to forgo their subsidies following detailed discussions. He reiterated the vision of the present state government for making Himachal Pradesh self-reliant and making all possible efforts to reform the system which have led to a gradual revival of the state’s economy.
Sukhu said that measures of the state government were proving helpful in preventing investment outflows and have further strengthened economic growth of the state. He called on citizens to support these initiatives and said that collective efforts would ensure better opportunities for the underprivileged while driving the state’s progress.
The state government is presently providing 125 units of free electricity to all households under the scheme launched by the previous Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government. The Congress party in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections had promised to increase the free units to 300.
However, after Congress government came to power, CM Sukhu, citing financial constraints had decided to scrap the electricity subsidy, which met opposition from the people and the opposition BJP that dubbed it as ‘anti-people’ move.The state government maintained that the State Electricity Board did not have money to pay salaries to the employees and also that the government had to pay liabilities of the subsidy given on the electricity.
