HimVani
Shimla (July 20): The Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has asked for an immediate rollback of the exorbitant hike of 9.5% in power rates announced by Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPERC). This increase will apply retrospectively since April 2011.
For domestic consumers the increase has been from Rs 2.20 to Rs 2.35 per unit for first 40 units consumed in a month. Then there is a progressive increase of over 15% for consumption beyond 40 units. This will put an additional burden of over Rs 5,000 p/a to the domestic consumers.
The party has severely indicted both the BJP and the Congress for the implementation of neo-liberal policies that has landed the state in such a precarious situation. “The government must buffer the hike and bear the additional increase. Further, the state government must change the course of its policies and strengthen the state electricity board,” a release stated.
