Lakhimpur Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad demands halt to installation of smart meters

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The Lakhimpur district committee of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad (AJYP) took to the street on Thursday with a protest programme demanding the permanent resolutions to various issues which have been affecting the greater interest of the public. In this connection, the members of the organization, in association with North Lakhimpur regional unit initiated a two-hour-long sit-in in North Lakhimpur town.

By initiating the protest programme Lakhimpur AJYP demanded the government and the Lakhimpur district administration to stop the installation of the digital smart meter, initiated by Power Department and Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL). According to the organization, the smart meters are currently harassing the common people of Assam. “These devices installed in households by the Assam Government’s Electricity Department and purchased from companies from other states have charged many times higher tariffs for the electricity consumed by consumers in Assam,” the organization asserted.

 Through the same protest programme Lakhimpur AJYP further demanded the Government of Assam to control the price hike of essential food items. “The prices of essential commodities, increases unusually, have affected the low-income households, as they spend a large portion of their income on food. The government has failed to curb the hike in price. The hike in prices instead of providing relief to the people has showed the indifferent attitude on the part of the government towards the public interest. Therefore, we demand that the price hike be reduced immediately,” said Lakhimpur AJYP president Haren Baruah and general secretary Mubin Ahmed.

The organization further demanded the government to provide cent per cent irrigation facilities in the crop areas, create entrepreneurs from the educated unemployed in the real sense instead of creating beneficiaries by providing them a nominal amounts to build industries and to enact a law to ensure the land rights of indigenous people of the state and not to transfer land to the outsiders. Later, the organization submitted separate copies of memoranda to the Chief Minister, Lakhimpur District Commissioner in support of the demands.

Also Read: Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya administers oath to Commissioners for ASCRTPS

Also watch: