MADURAI: Tangedco officials' attempt to attach Aadhaar of tenants and temporary residents with their power connections has been lacking across Madurai district, after many refuse to link details. Tenants allegedly fear that the subsidies would be cut off, but officials claim that this would help them follow up on defaulters.
Records state that there are 12 lakh service connections in the Madurai district and 6.5 lakh connections in the city. Out of which, 1.6 lakh have been registered under the names of tenants in 54 sections of Tangedco in Madurai district. However, only 89,000 tenants have updated and attached their Aadhaar to the service connections.
For example in Melur Town, 9,019 tenants are registered but only 7,019 have attached their Aadhaar. In Alanganallur, 5,565 tenants were registered, but only 3,290 tenants have attached their Aadhar. In Karuppayurani, 5,087 tenants are registered, but only 3,790 have attached their Aadhaar.
Speaking to TNIE, CITU- Tangedco Employees Union secretary (Madurai) P Arivazhalagan said, "Inspections are being carried out by assessors and assistant engineers to check ownership or tenancy in a building. Mostly, tenants falling under the lower-middle class category do not possess a rental or lease agreement in sub-urban segments. As these are mandatory for attaching the connections with Aadhaar, there has been a delay."
A foreman from Tangedco (Madurai) said, "This is not a mandatory practice and is not defined under Tangedco rules. The officials are just trying to prevent malpractice in their zone. But there are a lot of practical difficulties in getting an Aadhaar number attached to a service connection. Many tenants fear that this could cause problems with their subsidies. As the process is not compulsory, there is a delay."
Speaking to TNIE, a top official from Tangedco (Madurai) said, "The primary function of attaching Aadhar of tenant to EB number is to ensure that tenants who live below the poverty line or consumers using less power get the government-declared benefit of free 100 units. It also helps in following up, if the tenant fails to pay the bill, as he or she can be traced within the same zone. Since more than 70,000 connections are yet to be attached, we are urging officials to expedite the process."