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Power hike trigger protests in Kashmir, Omar says tariff increase a compulsion
Protests by political parties rocked Srinagar on Monday against the National Conference government’s go ahead for increase in power tariffs across Jammu and Kashmir from September 1 even as chief minister Omar Abdullah defended the decision saying that they were doing it out of compulsion.
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Protests by political parties rocked Srinagar on Monday against the National Conference government’s go ahead for increase in power tariffs across Jammu and Kashmir from September 1 even as chief minister Omar Abdullah defended the decision saying that they were doing it out of compulsion.
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has approved an average 6.83% increase in the retail supply tariff from September 1.
Activists and leaders of People’s Democratic Party and Apni Party led separate protests in Srinagar against the hike.
PDP activists led by party general secretary Mohd Khursheed Alam gathered at the party office in Srinagar carrying placards denouncing the tariff hike. They attempted to take a march on the road but were stopped by police.
PDP leader Asiya Naqash, who was among the protesters, said: “People were promised 200 units of free electricity but instead of that, the tariffs have been increased by 6.8 percent. Isn’t this cruelty and injustice?”.
In a recent order, the JERC has revised energy charges for metered domestic consumers to ₹2.45 per unit for up to 200 units per month, ₹4.20 per unit for 201–400 units, and ₹4.60 per unit for consumption above 400 units. The previous tariffs were ₹2.30, ₹4.00, and ₹4.35 per unit, respectively.
The development has triggered anger across Jammu and Kashmir particularly, against the NC government, as it had promised 200 units of free energy in its election manifesto.
Apni Party workers held a protest at Press Colony in Srinagar against the Omar government. They held placards and a lantern as a mark of protest against the power hike.
“Today I want to seek an answer from Omar, who is also the power minister, whether these are your promises which people gave you the mandate for,” said AP leader, Mohammad Ashraf Mir.
However, the NC government has defended the action saying that the hike was minimum across various states.
“J&K has the lowest tariffs in every category among the northern states (Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi). No other state in comparison has lower average energy charges (Rs/kWh).The just announced power tariff hike by JERC is not the first and certainly not the last. This definitely is a ‘lower’ hike in comparison to previous years,” said NC spokesperson, Imran Nabi Dar.
“We are not celebrating the hike in power tariffs. It was our compulsion. The more our power losses decrease, the more these steps won’t be needed,” Omar said. Lashing out at opposition, he reminded them of the hike in their tenure.
