Nizamabad: Hiked electricity charges burden village panchayats

Nizamabad: The village panchayats have already been reeling under the financial difficulties due to meager funds, the increased electricity charges have only increased their problems.

Each panchayat received an additional bill of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 as compared to last month. The funds released by the Central and State governments to the panchayats are only sufficient for the EMIs of tractors and the wages of the workers. The panchayats have to pay electricity bills for streetlights and drinking water supply to houses. The government has also increased electricity charges used by local bodies.

The small gram panchayats are worst hit due to high electricity charges. Paying high bills has become a problem for the panchayats which are struggling with lack of funds. In the past, electricity bills for street lights and drinking water were paid by the government. Due to non-issuance of the monthly payments, the arrears have reached crores of rupees. Since the Central government sanctioned funds directly to the gram panchayats, the State government has directed the panchayats to pay the electricity bills every month. However, due to poor maintenance of streetlights and high bills, the government directed the panchayats to enter into agreements with private companies to reduce the burden. Recently, the burden of electricity bills increased with the increase in unit charges.

The increased charges are as follows:

In the past, the unit charge for street lighting was Rs 5.The government raised the charges by one rupee. Now they have to pay Rs 6 per unit. The electricity connections used for water supply were charged at Rs 6.10 per unit. It has been increased to Rs 7.10. With this, the average monthly bill for each panchayat has shot up by Rs 5,500 to Rs 6,500. While the municipalities are somehow levying taxes and have other sources of revenue, the panchayats are still reeling under the financial burden. In addition, the State government has not released funds to the panchayats for three months. As a result, in some places secretaries are borrowing and paying electricity bills.

In some panchayats, tractor installments are not paid and banks are exempting them from the secretaries' accounts. Sarpanches, on the other hand, want the government to pay the electricity bills of financially distressed panchayats. The gram panchayats are facing a heavy burden due to increased electricity charges. In the past, the electricity bill amount used to be around Rs 50,000 to Rs 52,000 per month. Currently, with the increase in the unit rate, the bill has gone up to Rs 60,000. This financial burden is embarrassing, say the Nizamabad and Kamareddy district sarpanches expressing resentment.