With the Punjab AssemblyElections around the corner, Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal has commenced party promotional camps to make space forthemselves in the state.
AAP convener Kejriwal onTuesday reached Chandigarh on Tuesday where he announced that his party willprovide 300 units of free power to every household in the state.
He has also assured uninterruptedround-the-clock power supply and waiver of pending electricity bills, if the party comes into power in the state in 2022.
According to the data,Punjab government is already providing free electricity to over 1.5 lactube-wells for irrigation purposes. Apart from this, 200 free units of powerare being given to the Scheduled Castes, Backwards Classes, Below Poverty Line(BPL) families, families of freedom fighters, etc., which means each month Punjabgovt provides a subsidy of around 800-900 crore on power.
However according to thesources of PSPCL, if Arvind Kejriwal wins the upcoming elections in the statewith his free power masterstroke then the govt subsidy would escalate to1200-1300 crore from 10600 crores.
This year, the government has already cleared the subsidy amount of 10600 crores to the powercorporation to distribute free electricity to the aforementioned sectors/households.
The additional cost of the subsidy will have a serious outcome for the Punjab State Power CorporationLimited (PSPCL) as it will be pushed deeper into the trap of fiscal deficit.
Consequently, to recoverthe loss faced by the government for giving free power will have an extremeimpact on the pocket of the Punjabis. In a way or another, the state governmentwill find a way to squeeze the budget of the people by collecting more taxes todouble up the revenue.
Pertinently, the similarmodel is prevailing in Delhi where 200 units are being given free to everyhousehold, however, those who utilize more than the stipulated units have to paythe entire amount.
Arvind Kejriwal also clarifiedthat all existing electricity schemes will remain to continue in Punjab andPunjabis will get 300 units per month free. The existing beneficiaries thatwere getting 200 free units per month will now get 300 free units per month.
However, if thesebeneficiaries will consume 350 units then they will have to pay for the 50 overheadunits.
The first 300 units willbe totally free for the consumers. All other non-beneficiaries who do notreceive any electricity benefits currently will get 300 free units per month.If this category consumes more than 300 units per month, then they will have topay for the whole consumption.