UP govt gives more time to defaulting power consumers for paying dues

The Uttar Pradesh government has extended the deadline of Asan Kist Yojana by one month till March 31, for providing more time to defaulting power consumers, including farmers, to pay their dues.

UP Power Minister Srikant Sharma said in his letter to all pradhans (village heads) that since harvesting season of the rabi crop is approaching, the deadline would be helpful for farmers.

For heavy collection, Sharma has used an important tool in the form of pradhans of the village by directly interacting with them.

He said the power department has collected a large amount through the Asan Kist Yojana, which started on November 11, 2019, however, a large number of consumers are still left and, for them, extension of the scheme's deadline from February 29 to March 31 may turn out to be a boon.

Through the letter, Sharma said that despite heavy power generation cost (Rs 7.35 per unit), the department is supplying cheaper power to private tubewell consumers, farmers, and below-poverty line consumers, among others, as the deficit is covered by the grant received from the government.

While the current rate for private tubewell consumer on an average is Rs 1.21 a unit; for BPL consumers (for first 100 units), Rs 3 a unit; and for domestic rural metered consumers (for first 100 units), Rs 3.35 a unit, Sharma said.

Expressing commitment of the government for better power supply, the minister said, "It depends upon proportionality of power spent and revenue received."