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Health dept owes Rs 69-cr power bill: PSPCL record

Despite repeated notices issued by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to pay pending power bills, the government offices in the north zone remain the biggest defaulters.

Updated on: Aug 14, 2016, 14:58:30 IST
Hindustan Times | By , Jalandhar
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Despite repeated notices issued by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to pay pending power bills, the government offices in the north zone remain the biggest defaulters.

The office of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited in Jalandhar. (HT File Photo)
The office of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited in Jalandhar. (HT File Photo)

As per the data of the circle, the health department in Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur owes Rs 69.3 crore to the PSPCL.

While the Kapurthala health department owes Rs 6.4 crore, Hoshiarpur records Rs 42.4 crore. Likewise, Jalandhar records Rs 3 crore and Nawanshahr Rs 17.4 crore. Since health comes under essential services, the department gets reminders from time to time by the power office to pay the bills.

Officials, however, informed that last month, the office received an amount of Rs 10 crore from the water supply office. The water supply comes under the health department.

Other defaulting organisations include hospitals, government dispensaries, municipal corporation offices and local bodies, Punjab police and civil courts.

The total amount that all the government departments collectively owe till July-end stood around Rs 82 crore. “The departments should feel the responsibility to pay the bills on time,” said Devinder Singh Tiwana, engineer-in-chief, north zone, PSPCL.