CHANDIGARH Congress minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who hit out at chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh recently over his handling of power crisis, on Sunday pushed for free electricity up to 300 units and round-the-clock power supply to consumers in the state.
Sidhu said that domestic industrial consumers should be given electricity at cheaper rates. “Punjab already provides ₹9000 crore subsidy but we must do more for domestic and industrial consumer by giving power at ₹3-5 per unit, instead of surcharge inflated ₹10-12 per unit, along with 24-hour supply with no power-cuts & free power (Upto 300 Units)..It is definitely achievable,” he said in a tweet.
The former minister’s suggestions are on the lines of promises made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference here on June 28. He had promised free electricity up to 300 units for each household and 24-hour supply if his party wins the state polls.
Sidhu, who quit the state cabinet when the CM changed his portfolio from local government to power in 2019, again advocated that power purchase agreements signed during the previous SAD-BJP government should be nullified. “Let us start with Congress High Command’s Pro-People 18 Point Agenda and get rid of the faulty un-negotiable Badal-signed Power Purchase Agreements through “New Legislator in Punjab Vidhan Sabha” fixing rates as per National Power Exchange with no fixed charges,” he tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}Sidhu, who quit the state cabinet when the CM changed his portfolio from local government to power in 2019, again advocated that power purchase agreements signed during the previous SAD-BJP government should be nullified. “Let us start with Congress High Command’s Pro-People 18 Point Agenda and get rid of the faulty un-negotiable Badal-signed Power Purchase Agreements through “New Legislator in Punjab Vidhan Sabha” fixing rates as per National Power Exchange with no fixed charges,” he tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister, in a statement on Saturday, had stated that his government would soon announce its legal strategy to counter the “ill-conceived” PPAs. In the run-up to the 2017 elections, the Congress had promised that it would renegotiate the existing PPAs.