35 lakh people will be directly benefitted under 'Hasir Alo', says Sobhandeb
Kolkata: State Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Wednesday said that the state government will bear a subsidy of Rs 100 crore for providing free electricity to the poor people across the state up to 75 units on a quarterly basis.
While addressing the Assembly, Chattopadhyay said that 35 lakh people will be directly benefitted under 'Hasir Alo', a free electricity scheme announced by the state Finance minister Amit Mitra during his budget speech on Monday.
The Power minister also pointed out that the scheme has been conceptualised in such a manner so that the poor people can avail electricity at free of costs if they restrict their consumption within 75 units in a quarter.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned here that the Finance minister Mitra had made a budgetary allocation of Rs 200 crore for 2020-21 financial year for the 'Hasir Alo' scheme.
"We have carried out an assessment examining how poor people can benefit from the scheme. The state government will also provide a subsidy of Rs 100 crore for the newly announced scheme. We have also adopted a scientific method to check power theft. We have started installing aerial bunched (AB) cable for overhead wiring to check the incidents of power theft which had been a major concern for our department," Chattopadhyay said. He also pointed out that the power department has been conducting awareness programmes in various places. Following a relentless campaign, people are now applying for new connections.
During a question-answer session, the minister also added that the state government had earlier taken many pro-people decisions including the supply of electricity to the farmers at a subsidised rate.
"Electricity tariff has been fixed at Rs 2.48 per unit for the farmers if they avail the electricity during the night hours. During day time they have to pay around Rs 7 per unit. The electricity tariff has not been increased in the state since August 2016," the minister told the House.
