Amid the turmoil within the ruling Congress party and AamAadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Punjab, Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday announced to waive pending electricitybills of 53 lakh defaulters, covering -60-70 per cent of the total consumers.
It will put a burden of Rs 1,200 crore on the stateexchequer.
Channi told the media after the Cabinet meeting that itdecided to waive pending electricity bills of all defaulters having connectionup to 2 KW.
"It is a major relief for the common man," theChief Minister, who reiterated the government won't indulge in corruption norlet anyone do it.
The decision will benefit consumers in rural and urbanareas.
But the Chief Minister clarified that the arrears couldbe of one month or as old as 10 years, all outstanding will be cleared by thegovernment.
"The policy will apply only to the previouselectricity bills that are pending. From now onwards, the consumers would beliable for the outstanding," he added.
Channi said committees at tehsil level would be formed tohandle old bill waiver cases and verify the beneficiaries.
The Chief Minister announced a mechanism soon to end sandmafia by bringing a new policy on mining.
On the resignation of state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu,Channi said he had talked to him. "I have invited him to talk so that wecan resolve the issue."
He said that as sought by the party high command, thegovernment is appointing a dedicated team of public prosecutors and lawyers tohandle sensitive cases like sacrilege.