Delhi: Now the dispute will increase regarding ‘electricity subsidy’? LG Saxena asked to take decision on subsidy within 15 days

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Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has asked Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to direct the power department to place before the Council of Ministers the advice of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on capping power subsidy in the city and within 15 days, Take a decision.

LG gave instructions on the report of DERC

The LG gave this direction on the statutory advice of DERC given to the Delhi government regarding ‘limiting’ power subsidy to ‘poor and needy consumers’. Reacting to this direction, the Delhi government said that the Lieutenant Governor has once again violated the Supreme Court’s directions and the Constitution by going beyond his jurisdiction in an ‘illegal’ manner.

Chief Secretary had prepared the report

Officials said the report on which Saxena’s instructions are based was prepared by Chief Secretary Kumar. He made this report while looking into the complaints of non-payment of dues by the power distribution companies to the power generation companies. It was handed over to Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in December 2022.

What is DERC report?

In his report, the Chief Secretary had advised the Delhi government to give electricity subsidy to consumers having only three or five kilowatt electricity connections. With this, about 95 percent of the consumers of the capital would have come under the subsidy and the government would have saved about Rs 316 crore per year. The DERC advised that consumers with an electrical load of more than five kilowatts would certainly not be ‘poor’ and should not be subsidised.

The report was rejected by Satyendar Jain in favor of the current plan

According to the Chief Secretary’s report, the power department again placed a note before the then power minister Satyendar Jain on April 13, 2021, but it was rejected in favor of the current plan. The Chief Secretary’s report states that the power department not only failed to place the statutory advice of the DERC for the consideration of the Lieutenant Governor, but also did not place it before the cabinet for consideration. According to the report, the approval of the Finance Department was not even taken before going ahead with the existing subsidy scheme.

LG Saxena gave instructions to the Chief Secretary

Based on this report, the Lieutenant Governor has asked the Chief Secretary to inform the Chief Minister about the alleged lapses in the Conduct of Business Rules by the then Power Minister and request him to instruct the members of his Council of Ministers to follow its provisions scrupulously. instruct to do.

With language input.

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