The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab on Saturday announced 300 units of free electricity for every household in the state from July 1, ANI reported, citing the information and public relations department.
The scheme is likely to benefit nearly 62.25 lakh out of the total 73.80 lakh domestic consumers in the state as they use less than 300 units per month, The Indian Express reported.
The announcement was made on a day when the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government completed one month in office. Providing up to 300 units of free power was among the first poll promises the Aam Aadmi Party had made before the Punjab Assembly elections.
“From July 1, 2022, each household in Punjab will get free electricity of 300 units per month,” the chief minister said, according to PTI. “And it will be 600 units for two months.”
Punjab follows an electricity bill cycle of two months.
The Mann-led government aims to follow the Delhi model of the benefits scheme where consumption of up to 200 units per month is free. Those who utilise more power than this will have to pay.
Arrears of electricity bills pending till December 31, 2021, will also be waived off for homes having up to a two-kilowatt load. The Punjab government has promised that within three years it would provide round-the-clock electricity supply throughout the state at nominal rates, PTI reported.
On April 11, senior officials of the Punjab power department arrived in New Delhi to meet Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Opposition leaders in Punjab had raised questions over the meeting, alleging that the state government was being “remote-controlled” from Delhi. However, Mann had said that the officials were on a “study tour” to examine how the Delhi government provided free electricity.
“If needed, for training purposes, I will send my officers to Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and even Israel,” the chief minister had said.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha congratulated Mann for fulfilling his poll promise.
However, Congress’ state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring wrote on Twitter that the “proof of the pudding is in eating”.
“The truthfulness of your 300 unit free power will be tested in detail and the conditions attached to it,” he tweeted. “Best of luck to PSPCL [Punjab State Power Corporation Limited] who have to survive now, somehow.”
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