Sanjay Nirupam defends `agitation` to lower power bills

Nagpur: Defending his agitation to lower the power tariff in Maharashtra, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday continued his diatrive against the private electricity providers and the state`s electricity regulatory authority.

Terming the role of Maharashtra Electricity Regularity Commission (MERC) in fixing power tariff as "suspicious", he demanded the appointment of technically sound professionals in the Commission and not retired bureaucrats henceforth for the sake of transparency in the state`s power sector. "The MERC is not transparent and dancing to the tunes of private power companies to benefit them. The government should take cognisance and initiate immediate steps in this regard," he said. Nirupam, who along with party`s Lok Sabha member Priya Dutt had been "protesting" and demanding reduction of electricity bills for power consumers especially in Mumbai, reiterated that the government should cut power tariff as the present rates are very exorbitant. "Mumbai consumers get power at the rate of Rs 9 per unit from Reliance Infrastructure. This is the highest tariff in the country," he said. Reacting to the Reliance Infrastructure`s contention that the demand for revision in electricity tariff in Mumbai could only be considered by MERC, which is the regulatory commission, Nirupam said that its price fixing mechanism is "improper and unscientific". "There is a need to look at the issue afresh by consulting technocrats and professionals," he said. Nirupam said the Maharashtra Chief Minister had assured to look into the matter and announce a decision very soon. About the woes of autorickshaw drivers, Nirupam said that the Maharashtra government ought to relax the criteria for autorickshaw drivers seeking new permits. The government would give 64,000 permits to autorickshaw drivers in Mumbai alone and 32,000 of these would be given soon, he said. However, apart from other criteria, the Maharashtra government has mentioned a criterion of domicile for such permits, he said. "The domicile of Maharashtra criterion should not be made compulsory, as traffic police personnel and other people with vested interests would take advantage of this and would procure permits to give those autorickshaw (permits) on rent," he said.