Amid the ongoing agitation in different parts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir against the installation of smart electricity meters, the non-serious functioning of the Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (JPDCL) was once again exposed after a family living in abject poverty in the heart of the Jammu city received an electricity bill of over Rs 51 lakhs.
This big goof-up of the JPDCL provided an opportunity for the opposition parties to pinpoint loopholes in the government's campaign to install electricity smart meters in the UT to check power theft.
Rajesh Uppal, 45, who is living with his elderly mother Kanta Uppal in the Narayana Mohalla area of Jammu city, is living in a rented accommodation of two rooms.
Rajesh Uppal, the only breadwinner of a four-member poor family, is earning his livelihood by driving an auto in the city. The poor family has no high electricity-consuming gadgets but they received a bill of rupees 51 lakhs, thanks to the casual approach of the JPDCL authorities.
After officers of the JPDCL have not paid any heed to the problem of the poor family approached the media to highlight their woes.
"Ours is a hand-to-mouth life. We are surviving on the daily income of my son Rajesh who is an auto driver", Kanta Uppal, head of the family told the media.
"Earlier I used to receive Rs 1000 per month as an aged-old pension but that too has been stopped for the last six months I do not know how we will pay that amount", she asked.
"This episode exposed the casual approach of the department", Vijayant Pathania, a local social activist told The International Business Times, adding, "The poor family man does not have electric gadgets in their house but they received electricity bill above Rs 51 lakh".
Authorities admit an error that is yet to be rectified
Kanta Uppal said that she brought this matter to the notice of the higher authorities to stop the harassment. "They admitted that it was an error but no one has rectified it yet", she said.
The bill, which was issued in the name of Kanta Uppal under the Amnesty Scheme, an amount worth Rs 51,85,325 has been mentioned as arrear. An amount of Rs 11,16,475 is mentioned as an interest which would be "waved off" by the JPDCL authorities provided the poor family will pay the bill before September 30, 2023.
Interestingly, Rs 20,34,425 has been fixed as the first installment by the JPDCL authorities for the poor family.
Opposition targets government against installing smart meters
The repeated blunders committed by the authorities of the JPDCL in issuing inflated bills to consumers have provided the opportunity for the opposition parties to question the intention of the government in installing these meters.
"It is highly unfortunate that instead of involving consensus on installing electric smart meters and imposing property tax, the BJP-controlled administration is trying to forcibly impose these anti-poor decisions with the help of police", the working president of J&K Congress Raman Bhalla said.
He regretted that during the last nine years, democratic institutions have been bulldozed in J&K by the administration with the help of the BJP leaders.
Calling upon the people to come on the streets to oppose anti-poor policies being propagated by the BJP-controlled administration, Raman Bhalla exhorted the people to teach BJP a lesson in the forthcoming Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections.
