CPM state secretary BV Raghavulu has appealed to all MLAs and MLCs to mount pressure on the government to withdraw the proposal to hike power charges.
He wrote a letter with a copy to each MLA and MLC on Monday, saying that the government was preparing to burden people with Rs 12,723 crore power charges, which is unprecedented in India’s history.
People, already reeling under the spiralling prices of essentials, would not be in a position to take additional burden, he said. Apart from households, small-scale industries and businesses are reeling under the impact of hefty power bills. Transco officials were not sparing even farmers and were collecting charges in the name of service charges, he alleged.
The power charges hiked in the last three years totalled nearly Rs 6,310 crore -- Rs 4,269 crore in 2012-13, Rs 641 crore in 2011-2012 and Rs 1,400 crore in 2010-11. Besides, the government was collecting fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA) from the consumers, Raghavulu said and noted that no other government hiked power charges so much. He appealed to all legislators to write to the chief minister demanding roll-back of the tariff hike.