Staff Reporter
Guwahati: A section of the state’s MLAs and Ministers are not comfortable at the prospect of having to foot the electricity bills of their quarters from their own pockets.
From time immemorial, the electricity bills of the official quarters of MLAs and Ministers were paid for by the state government. However, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently announced that the legislators and ministers have to pay their own electricity bills for the power consumed at their official quarters. Official sources said that the electricity bills of each minister come to around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month. The electricity bills of the MLAs come to around Rs 20,000 per month. The monthly average bill of the minister colony for 2023–24 is approximately Rs 10 lakh per month, which includes the energy consumption of common facilities of the ministers’ colony also.
Each quarter of the ministers has 5 to 10 air conditioners, in addition to other electronic appliances. There is no control over their usage. Fans and lights are rarely switched off, even when nobody is present in the room. As the government was footing the bill, they just did not care about the electricity consumption in their official quarters. But now, they will feel the pinch as they have to pay out of their own pockets.
The MLAs and Ministers are now feeling uncomfortable at the idea of paying their electricity bills. The MLAs and Ministers get huge salaries and other facilities, and their being ‘unhappy’ at paying their own bills is not at all justified, as people getting a minimum salary or with small earnings are paying their electricity bills regularly.
There was a time when electricity at the quarters of government employees was provided free of charge. During this time, they resorted to even preparing the fodder for their livestock on electric heaters.
The misuse of electricity in government offices, especially in the districts, remains a moot point even now. Fans and lights are rarely switched off, even when there is nobody present in a room. Even the ACs are kept switched on when an official exits his or her room. There is simply no control over the usage of electricity in offices or official quarters.
Assam is a state where 80% of the electricity consumed is sourced from outside. This September, the highest gross demand for electricity was 2800 MW, whereas the state’s own production of electricity was only 400 MW. It is now high time to realise this fact and stop the misuse of electricity.
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