Vijayawada: CPM flays govt for hiking power adjustment charges

Vijayawada: Expressing serious concern over the government's plan to impose adjustment charge in the power bills with effect from September, the CPM activists staged a massive demonstration in front of the Vidyut Soudha at Gunadala on Tuesday stating that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy went back on his word that there would be no hike in the power charges during his padayatra.

CPM state executive member Ch Babu Rao flayed the Union and the State governments for imposing additional taxes and charges on people at a time when they are suffering financially due to the pandemic.

He said that it was atrocious on the part of the Electricity Regulatory Authority to give orders to the department to collect Rs 1.27 per unit for the electricity consumed during the period between 2014 and 2019 on the pretext that the department suffered loss during that period. The adjustment charges would be collected for eight months from September, he said.

Babu Rao recalled that the YSRCP opposed the same when the then TDP government attempted to collect the adjustment charges but now it is doing the same thing. He flayed the Union government for encouraging the privatisation of Discoms in the name of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

CPM leaders B Nageswara Rao, Boyi Satyababu, B Ramana Rao, K Durga Rao, T Pravin and others participated in the dharna.