In Assam, all public servants to pay their own power bills starting July

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the chief secretary will start paying their power bills from July 1

In a move to eliminate the VIP culture in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Sunday that, starting in July, all public servants in the state will be responsible for paying their electricity bills.

Setting a precedent, both the chief minister and the chief secretary will begin paying their power bills from July 1, marking the end of taxpayer-funded electricity consumption for government officials. 

"We are ending the VIP culture rule of paying electricity bills for government officials using taxpayer money. Myself and the chief secretary will set an example and start paying our power bills from July 1 onwards. Beginning in July 2024, all public servants will have to pay for their electricity consumption," Sarma declared in a video message on X (formerly Twitter).

Highlighting the historical context, Sarma explained, "No government, no chief minister, no chief secretary, the electricity bill used in everyone's house was being paid by the state government so far from the Budget. We have decided, with effect from July 1, be it the chief minister, ministers, senior officers, we will pay our electricity bills, so that they do not have to increase the electricity charges in lieu of the losses that the electricity board incurs due to our non-payment."

The Chief Minister further emphasised the financial impact of this change, noting, "By taking this step, we aim to prevent the electricity board from incurring losses due to non-payment by officials, which otherwise would lead to increased charges for the public."

Sarma also unveiled the Janata Bhawan Solar Project, a 2.5-megawatt grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system, at the state Secretariat Complex in Guwahati. 

The chief minister urged all government offices to transition to solar power in a phased manner, starting with medical colleges and universities.

"We have undertaken an initiative to implement auto-disconnection of electricity at all govt offices barring the CM Secretary, home and finance departments at 8 pm so that we can save electricity. This measure is already in place at 8,000 government offices, schools across the state," Himanta Sarma said.